Dog Day's Night
by radiorobot123
Summary: When Katherine Lawrence is restructuring her life, she decides to adopt a grim-like dog. When Sirius Black inexplicably emerges from the veil, he finds himself trapped in his animagus form. They both get a little more than they bargained for.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **All canon characters, scenery and plot references are the property of J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from this story in any way.

**Rating: T for language**

**Author's Note: **I've been writing fan fiction for quite some time, but the perfectionist in me refuses to post _anything _until the story is finished, or I've edited, re-edited and revised until I can't possibly continue. Part of my new year's resolutions was to a. be a little less of a perfectionist and b. to publish something. I'm using this as a crucial first step to get _some_ of my own writing, fanfiction or not, out in the world.

**Summary: **Katherine Lawrence is recently divorced, recently orphaned, and currently going through some _major _restructuring in her life. Sirius Black, after emerging from the veil of death only months after the final battle, finds himself trapped in his anamagus form. They both get a little more than they bargained for.

* * *

**One**

Of all of the things that Katherine Lawrence thought that she'd be doing on a Friday afternoon, this certainly wasn't one of them. There was a part of her, an embarrassingly _large _part that wanted to yell, wanted to scream, wanted to curse her bad luck, or maybe just her choice in a best friend.

She knew that Clara was just trying to help. She had the best intentions, even if they were somewhat misguided. Clara had just been trying to drag Kate out of the self-induced and nearly lethargic funk that she'd been in since her divorce. And Kate was reluctant to admit that her friend's methods _were _working, despite the fact that they were somewhat unorthodox. Clara couldn't help it that her personality insisted that she _quite literally_ drag her best friend into the carefully scheduled 'cheer up and get over that sorry sod' activities that, by their very nature, were overbearing at best.

They'd had a girl's day at the spa (which had included a very awkward couple's massage that assumed Clara and Kate lovers), they'd gone to an elvin vineyard for a wine tasting (she'd have preferred whiskey), had spent (wasted) an entire day watching sappy muggle movies and eating junk food, gone to a wizarding theater featuring the 'hit' new play _wandless weekend, _even gone camping, which would have been enjoyable had Clara not forgotten the tent.

The latest of Clara's schemes involved the girls volunteering at a muggle animal shelter, because in Clara's wise words, "You can't look at a puppy and _not_ be happy."

And so, that was how Kate found herself surrounded by cats and dogs and animals of all varieties on a Friday. She could think of a hundred other things she'd prefer to be doing just now, say, going on a pub crawl, or curling up at home with a book and a glass of wine, or rather, _anything else at all. _Throwing herself into the Black Lake, for example, certainly seemed like a better option than standing on cold concrete flooring, looking at all the lost animals in need of a good home.

Bypassing the puppies, and the muggle children that seemed to follow them in scads, Kate had lost Clara somewhere around the kittens. Clara had decided even before they'd arrived that she would be adopting a cat, and now it was only a matter of which cat (or rather, _witch_ cat).

Kate had lost interest in less than ten minutes, always considering herself to be more of a dog person anyway. This was undoubtedly how she found herself wandering through the kennels of the older dogs, aimlessly searching for _something_, even if she wasn't quite sure what.

She found it, or rather him, in a cage near the back of the shelter. The front few rows of kennels had been well traversed, filled with families and children, exuberant and eager dogs paying apt attention to anyone, everyone that happened by. The back rows held the older, less loved dogs, the dogs that she was drawn to, instinctively.

The very back cage held a black dog, curled up against the back wall of his crate. He was large, and standing, Kate imagined he'd come up to at least her hip, maybe even her stomach. He had slightly mangled shaggy black fur and gigantic paws. He seemed wholly unaffected by the noise level in the room, and only opened one steely grey eye as she knelt down in front of his cage.

"Oh you're gorgeous, aren't you?" Kate asked him warmly. One triangle ear perked slightly, and her gaze shifted to the sign on the front of his cage. "Ozzie, huh?" She read, "Suits you."

The dog lifted his head lazily, and cracked open the other grey eye. He sniffed the air slowly, and then, dropped his head back to the paper-thin blanket that separated him from cold cement.

"Do you know that in a lot of cultures and societies grims and black dogs are considered to be very bad luck?" She asked Ozzie gently, noting that the dog's eyes were still open. "A warning sign of bad things to come, they were. Quite often known for heralding death, or bad electrical storms." She remembered with a wry grin.

Ozzie's head perked up again, and his eyes leveled onto hers, interested, almost as if he could understand what she was saying, what she was referencing. He cocked his head to one side and seemed to look her over appraisingly.

"Smart boy, aren't you?" Kate sunk down to a sitting position in front of the cage, crossing her legs underneath her. "Seems like we've both got a bout of bad luck lately, hmm?"

Ozzie cocked his head to the other side, sniffing the air cautiously, and scanning her again. And then, without preamble, he stood, stretching out his back paws lazily before padding over to the edge of the cage and pressing a cold nose to the fingers that she'd threaded through the cage. Kate's eyes met Ozzie's in an odd and consuming staring contest. Just for a second, it was almost as though she'd seen into his soul, his old and tortured soul, and Kate felt her heart break for him. _What happened to you, love? _

"He likes ye," An older, black haired woman had come up behind them, and both Kate and Ozzie jumped. Kate spun around to study the woman. She was tall and lean and wearing an employee uniform, the name "Alice" posted on a cheerful nameplate on her chest. She had a leash in one hand and was staring intently at Kate, sitting in front of Ozzie's cage on the hard floor. "Never seen 'im take ta anyone like that before, ya ken?"

"What?" Kate blinked, shooting a look back to Ozzie, who looked, amusingly, just as confused as she did.

"Ah…bad case of black dog syndrome, that one 'as," The woman's Scottish lilt echoed oddly against the cement. "Ya know, the reckoning that black dogs are passed over for adoptin' in favor of the more…. eager ones, prettier ones." Alice's eyes darted back to Ozzie. "He's a smart one, Ozzie is, but he don't take to folk much," She continued. "He seems to like you well enough, though."

Kate shot another glance to Ozzie, and hid a smile at the strange woman's speech. She could have sworn that she saw a glint of amusement in the dog's eyes. "Well," Kate said slowly, "As it happens, I seem to like him well enough too," She said with a soft smile.

"Care to take 'im for a walk then?" Alice asked, looking between Kate and Ozzie, offering the girl the leash in her hand, "I'm afraid these old bones of mine aren't getting 'round the pond as quickly as they used to."

"Uh, Sure..." Kate took the leash from the woman's hand and frowned, worrying her bottom lip, "What do you say Ozzie?" Kate turned back to face the dog. "Fancy a walk with me?"

Maybe it was wishful thinking, but she would later swear that Ozzie's eyes perked up at the idea. And she couldn't have imagined his tail wag.

* * *

They didn't go very far, or very fast, but, by the end of their walk, Kate was sold. Ozzie was a strange dog, that was for certain, and he acted more like a person than a dog, cautiously sniffing the air as they walked, as if he'd seen this all before, and he wasn't going to be bothered by racing around like a puppy. He kept a good pace with Kate, not yanking her arm off in eagerness as she half expected from a mutt his size. In fact, there was something downright _magical _about him.

"You don't act like a normal dog you know," She told him thoughtfully, as they stepped along the path. As if taking her words as a cue, Ozzie barked loudly at a duck and then turned back to her expectantly. Kate laughed.

"You're not part Crup or Cerberus are you?" She asked him, as the continued their leisurely stroll around the large pond that flanked one side of the compound. Ozzie gave a woof of derision at the comparison, but cocked his head to look her over curiously.

"I'm not exactly normal myself," She informed him conversationally, "I'm a witch, you see, and though I'm certain that doesn't mean a thing to you, it's defined pretty much my entire life." Ozzie's head came around to stare at her, grey eyes narrowing as she continued talking. "I'm only telling you this because….well I think I might like to adopt you, and I don't want you wigging out if I cast magic around you."

Ozzie stopped walking all together, frozen so immediately on the path that Kate ran into him and fell backwards onto her arse. "Bloody hell, warn a girl," She groaned, rubbing her back, "Trying to kill me already?"

The dog turned to face her, staring at her in his unnervingly intense way. He stood over her, and she cautiously reached up one hand to stroke his neck, to scratch near his ears. Somehow, she knew exactly what Ozzie seemed to be asking, as clearly as if he'd voiced it aloud. He was _terrifyingly intelligent._

"I _would _like to adopt you Ozzie, if that'd be alright with you," She said carefully, looking up at the grim from where she was still sitting on the dirt path. "I didn't come here planning on adopting a dog, even a freakishly intelligent one, no matter if he's gorgeous." She laughed, brushing some of his shaggy fur from his face.

"I came with my mate Clara to…. Well… that's neither here nor there," She muttered, "But your sign said you've been in for over a year, and no one deserves that, you know? No one deserves to be locked away without a family for over a year." She shook her head, rambling on, but unable to stop herself. "Not to mention that the put down dogs that have been 'round for too long, and I'd never forgive myself if anything…." She shook her head at the thought.

Ozzie was still staring at her, eyes narrowed in on hers, but he'd sat back on his haunches, as Kate continued her blathering. "As it turns out Ozzie, I like you, weird and all," She said with a dry laugh. "And I won't pay any mind to the 'grim' nonsense, because I don't reckon my lucks going to get any worse. So maybe the two of us can make some good luck of our own? Be our own family?" She asked, "What do you say?"

Ozzie studied her thoughtfully for several seconds, looking at her as if determining whether or not to accept her offer, and suddenly Kate was nervous. Maybe her bad luck _could _get worse, and it'd somehow insanely came down to the culmination of whether or not this shockingly intelligent dog walked away. It was something she'd have laughed at, hysterically, a year ago, but now, it seemed important, damagingly so.

But before she'd even blinked, Ozzie set a cautious paw on her knee and then dropped his head, to lick her cheek softly, and Kate engulfed him in a hug.

It wasn't much, but it was a start, a new beginning for a new family. And somehow, to both Kate and Ozzie, it made a difference.

* * *

"You want to adopt…._that?"_ Clara said skeptically, looking over the dog that her best friend had chosen with a scrunched up nose. She had a carrying case in one hand, and there was a stripped grey kitten peering warily through the bars.

"Yes," Kate stated baldly, scratching Ozzie behind his ears and tightening her hold on his collar. Ozzie sniffed Clara and her kitten cautiously, before looking back to Kate. If dogs were capable of raising their eyebrows, Kate was certain that Ozzie would have done. She shot her dog a knowing smirk before turning back to Clara.

"But Katie," Clara said with a frown, still looking skeptically at the dog, "That's pretty much a grim, don't you remember what Professor Trelawney said about Grims?" Clara had always had a soft spot for Divination, no matter the fact that Kate had thought it was ridiculous, or at very least, their former teacher was.

"And don't you remember what I've said about professor Trelawney and Divination?" Kate rolled her eyes. "Load of rubbish."

"But…Surely there's a cute puppy or a…." Clara tried again, looking over Ozzie disbelievingly.

"-No." Kate stated interrupting her friend. "I want him."

"Fine…. But he gives you mange or rabies, then don't come crying to me." Clara said with a shake of her head.

"Alright then, I wont," Kate laughed, scratching Ozzie behind the ears again. "Let's go _home_ Ozzie."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **All canon characters, scenery and plot references are the property of J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from this story in any way.

**Rating**: T for language

**Summary: **When Kate Lawrence adopts a strangely intelligent, grim-like dog, she gets a little more than she bargained for.

**Author's Note:** Why is it that every time I set out to write a cute little romantic, light story, I end up with some sort of plot that I didn't expect? Proof that stories write themselves, and as a writer, we are only instruments of the crazy ideas we've got floating in our heads. Posting for this is still a little sporadic, due to lack of time to sit down and write, but I promise part three will come soon! Hope everyone had a great weekend! Thanks for reading!

* * *

**Two**

Home was an old two story farmhouse in the English countryside that Kate had inherited from her mother upon her passing the year before. It was quaint and cozy, surrounded by fields, a forest and wildflowers. The house sat near a pond, and was an off-white color, flanked by gardens filled with flowers and potion ingredients.

Ozzie had reacted surprisingly well to traveling via floo, and for the first time since Kate's hasty adoption, he was acting like a real dog, sniffing almost everything both outside the house and in. Kate watched, amused, following her new dog as he searched the bedrooms upstairs, the living room, the formal dining room, (which had been transformed into a study), the kitchen, pantry and the root cellar (which doubled as a potion's lab), before he finally gave up, and curled up on the couch, resting his head against a pillow.

"My mum was a muggle," Kate explained as she plopped down on the sofa next to him, a cup of tea in her hands and a bag filled with work in the other. Part of her felt insane for explaining such a thing to her new _dog_, but then again, you were supposed to talk to animals to get them accustomed to your voice, weren't you?

"She'd have gone mental if she'd seen what I've done with her house after she died last year, a coronary." She shot a glance to the study and the door that led to the potions lab. "Though, it's my house now I reckon." She shot her dog a smile and cradled her tea between two hands. "And yours too." She added. "Though, you've certainly made yourself at home, haven't you?"

Ozzie lifted his head with a huff, and stood on the couch, crossing to the other side to flop down next to Kate and rest his head on her lap. He raised his eyebrows to her innocently, as if to ask _better?_

"Cheeky blighter," Kate laughed, scratching him behind the ears, "You're just a big love, aren't you?" She set her reading aside, focusing on her new dog. "Don't worry," She added, studying scars beneath his fur. "I won't tell anyone."

Ozzie looked amused, but his tail wagged ever so slightly. He liked the attention; she couldn't blame him after spending the last few months locked up. She continued to rub behind his ears, and he shut his eyes in contentment, earning a grin from his new mistress. "I don't know why you haven't been adopted already, love," She murmured to him, thoughtfully, "I reckon that anyone'd be lucky to have you."

Ozzie's eyes opened and he shot Kate a quizzical look, earning another laugh from the girl at the dog's expressions. "Oh well, I guess I'm the lucky one," She told him pointedly, "So long as I don't keel over dead after having to see a grim every day," she teased, earning an offended _yip_ in response.

.

* * *

Unspeakable Luis Oswin was in trouble, or he would be, once the boss found out what he'd done, and, at this point, it was only a matter of time. It hadn't seemed like a big deal when it had happened, months ago; he'd only skived off work on a day that, then, had absolutely no significance.

Generally, monitoring the Veil in the Death room was a boring, though unsettling, job. They'd all made their rounds doing it, and he'd drawn extra duties in a late night poker game with some co-workers, which he'd been too plied with alcohol to remember much of. But there was something unnerving about sitting in the strange stadium like room, late at night, with only the veil for company. People heard things; people _saw _things; and Luis, for one, found it rather terrifying.

Despite hearing voices, seeing specters and feeling like he was being watched at all times, nothing of significance had ever _happened _on one of Luis's shifts. There was several hours of less sleep, (merlin forbid you actually fell _asleep _on your shift- the dreams were too unnatural), but nothing tangible ever happened. And after a week of these shifts wreaking havoc on his subconscious, Luis had left early on that Thursday.

He knew that he'd made a mistake the next day, when his boss had called him into his office. "Oswin, what the hell happened on your shift last night?" Head Unspeakable Drew was a terrifying man, large, stoic and keen to pick favorites. Luis had never been one of his favorites.

"W-what do you mean, sir?" Luis asked, his voice coming out as a terrified squeak instead of its usual timbre.

"You mean to tell me, that you noticed nothing out of the ordinary, no increased veil activity, _nothing?"_ Drew questioned in the threatening tone that he favored.

"N-no sir," Luis stumbled on his answer, eyes widening. "D-did something happen?"

"Weekly diagnosis spells report_ something _exiting the veil last night," Drew huffed. "Something that was certainly not _supposed to _exit the veil," He scowled. "You mean to tell me that you saw nothing?"

Luis had made the split decision to lie. It would, in this case, certainly save his job, and he needed the money if he _ever _wanted to propose to his long time paramour, Mary. By his reckoning, Mary, who was far out of his league to begin with, wouldn't stay with him had he no viable source of income. Certainly, the worst that could happen was that he would be sacked if anyone ever found out (hopefully _years _down the line). Luis was far from the smartest bloke in any room, but he wasn't a complete idiot.

So instead, he answered, "No sir."

That had been months ago. He'd managed to avoid his bosses' scrutiny, even scathe through without punishment, though his boss thought him even _more _of an idiot, if possible. But Luis couldn't shake the horrible feeling that still caught him off guard. Who or _what _had come out of the veil?

He tried to push it out of his mind to the best of his ability, and only ever really thought about it on the increasingly unsettling night shifts that he spent on duty in the chamber. Nights, like this one.

He'd kissed Mary (his new fiancée) goodnight, and headed off to work, clutching his tuna sandwich and apple to his chest. He reluctantly took a seat in his customary spot in the death chamber, contemplating the name, and the history of executing wizards and witches by pushing them through the veil, before Azkaban had been built. It still amazed him, that after hundreds of years of study, they didn't know exactly where the veil went.

They'd had numerous expeditions through the curtain over the centuries, attaching ropes and chains and tethering spells to the brave souls that ventured through. The ropes came back frayed, the spells had snapped, and no one of them had ever returned.

That was true, as far as he knew, until that night several months ago, and then again, tonight.

He thought he was imagining things at first, as he munched on his apple and looked at his tuna sandwich forlornly, (a new diet Mary had insisted on for their upcoming nuptials). The steady stream of whispers that was ever present around the veil grew louder and louder, until they were a dull roar, filling every corner of the room, and growing louder still.

The breeze, the one that blew the curtain of the veil uncannily as it was, had become fearsome, ripping the curtain in an increasingly violent tempest, and sending a chilling wind through though the room. Luis clutched onto his chair, wide eyed, as he went for his wand, the breeze ruffling his hair and robes and sending goosebumps down his spine.

But the veil was where his eyes settled. He should run, call for help, scream a spell over the roar of wind and voices, he should do something, anything, but he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the veil. A frantic sort of panic cropped up in him, and he found himself breathing heavily. The runes, carved into the marble archway were glowing an odd blue color, something he'd never seen before. And the light coming from the veil itself as growing as well, white light increasing at such intensity that he was blinded suddenly, but he still couldn't force himself to look away.

It registered somewhere in him that he was trapped, rooted to the spot, blinded and deafened by the roar, shivering in the wind and gasping for air. The sensations were so overwhelming that he couldn't even form a thought, until, just as suddenly as they'd began, the wind, the noise and the light stopped.

It took Luis a shaky minute to recover. He blinked several times to readjust his eyes to the dim lighting of the veil, to stop his head from spinning. And it took him another several minutes to register what he was seeing. A girl, woman, with dark hair and eyes was standing in front of the veil, naked, and unsettlingly pale.

"Did we make it?" She asked in a rough voice, eyes flitting around the room wildly and settling on Luis, and then, without warning, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she collapsed.

.

* * *

It was no great secret to anyone that knew her that Kate was a collector of oddities. It had been the venue for many arguments with her ex-husband, who told her that she had far too much 'junk.' She'd taken offense to the sentiment.

Her shelves were riddled with bits and bobbles she'd found, interesting shells, rocks, corals and leaves that she'd discovered on her numerous weekly hikes. She had ball jars filled with feathers, glass vials filled with sand, and this was not mentioning her book collection. She had not one but _two _ancient copies of _the voynich manuscript_; she had ancient herbology, alchemy and medicinal books. She had lunar charts and maps, and shelves filled with dusty leather-bound tomes.

So it didn't come as much of a surprise to _anyone_ that her new dog became just another one of these oddities.

Kate had always considered herself to be a dog person. She'd had two dogs and a krup growing up, and had missed them horribly when she'd been at Hogwarts. But of all the dogs she'd ever had the pleasure of knowing, Ozzie was by far, the strangest.

He didn't _act_ like a dog. Not a normal one anyone anyway. He was neat and quiet, and was prone to sour moods where he'd pace or wander aimlessly. He _refused _to sleep in Kate's bed with her, and left the room when she showered or changed. Most concerning, he wouldn't eat any of the dog food that Kate had bought for him.

It had taken Kate's coaxing cooked chicken from the stir-fry she'd been making one night to finally get him to eat _anything_ and the next day, she'd gone to a bookshop and gotten an 'organic dog food cookbook.'

"I hope you know how much I spoil you," She'd told Ozzie as she poured through it, making a list of the things she'd need from the shop next visit. Ozzie had only cocked his head in response.

Furthermore, the way that he seemed to understand everything she was saying was downright _creepy _at times. He'd bark or yip in response to questions, nod his hid when she was talking aimlessly at him, and she could have _sworn _that she'd seen him _wink_ at her once.

She'd caught him studying her when she was busy at work, or watching the telly, and looking deep in thought (or as in deep of thought as a dog could). On top of that, he _never _seemed to relax.

Ozzie was always tense, waiting for something to happen. He didn't seem to sleep much, and when he did, it was on the floor of her room, near the door, or huddled against the wall, and away from the dog bed, or her bed, which she'd invited him into nearly every night since adopting him.

Noises seemed to startle him, and though he never made any moves to attack or harm Katie (in fact seemed downright protective of her at times), he didn't overly care for any of Kate's male friends that had come to call. Kate was starting to worry, and had made two additional trips to the muggle bookstore to purchase books on dog behavior, which when Ozzie caught her reading, had barked in a way that had almost sounded like a laugh.

Kate had given up and shoved the books away, "It's all rubbish you know," She told her dog, settling down on the sofa next to him and scratching behind his ears. When she did so, was the only time she'd seen the dog relax, so she made a point to do so frequently. "The books are all about _normal dogs _and how they react to things," She explained, with an frown. "But anyone can see that you _aren't a normal dog."_

Ozzie raised his head and shot her a meaningful look, looking as though he was trying to convey something to her.

"You're right of course," She smiled at him, "You're much better than a normal dog."

Ozzie gave an annoyed huff, and laid his head back down.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **All canon characters, scenery and plot references are the property of J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from this story in any way.

**Rating**: T for language

**Summary: **When Kate Lawrence adopts a strangely intelligent, grim-like dog, she gets a little more than she bargained for.

**Author's Note:** Okay, it's official. I quit my job this week. I've been a long believer that office jobs stifle creative minds, and though I've worked in them pretty much since graduating college, and I probably will be working in them again, this last one was stressful, challenging, and altogether miserable. This does mean I should have more time to write (and will not be working at home!), but I will have to do that 'job hunting' thing again. Cheers to new adventures!

* * *

**Three**

A frantic knocking on the back door made Kate jump up from where she'd been lazing carefully on the sofa, nearly spilling hot tea over Ozzie, who'd been asleep, with his head in her lap. They'd been having a bit of a lazy Sunday afternoon, Kate reading while scratching her dog's head, which turned out to be fairly relaxing practice for both of them, when the back door opened rather forcefully.

"Katie, Katie, Katie!" Clara burst into the house, and Ozzie stiffened, leaping off the couch and letting off resounding barks that filled the room at the intrusion.

"S'alright Oz," Kate said lazily, smiling at the added security system that she'd unknowingly brought into her house, "Hi Clara."

Clara had frozen in the hall, eyes fixed on Ozzie, who looked back at his mistress questioningly. "Nice doggy…good boy," Clara cooed carefully, before edging around the dog to greet her best friend in a quick hug. Ozzie growled, but sat back on his haunches, eyeing Clara suspiciously. "Merlin," the girl said, "I still can't believe that you adopted…_that."_

"Oi, that's my dog you're talking about," Kate said defensively, sitting back down on the sofa. "No _wonder _he doesn't like you."

"You like me…don't you Ozzie?" Clara shot a skeptical glance over at the dog, who was still watching her suspiciously. Ozzie gave a huff, and looked back to Kate, quirking his eyebrows. Kate hid a laugh, and glanced to her best friend.

"Is there a reason you've burst into my house, Clara?" She sighed, grasping onto her tea mug and downing the rest of the liquid. "Or did you just fancy dropping in to upset my dog."

"Oh!" Clara's eyes lit up at remembering her purpose here. "They've broken up!"

"Who's broke up?" Kate asked patiently, used to her friend's vague and overly dramatic exclamations.

"Thom and Rebekah!" Clara dropped unceremoniously down in one of the armchairs, looking pleased with herself for getting a leg-up on the latest gossip. Ozzie padded back towards the sofa and jumped up onto it, choosing the side opposite Kate.

"What? Really?" Kate set her tea mug down with a loud clack and looked to her friend, "That was fast, Reckon he cheated on her too?" She scoffed.

"I don't know, all I've heard is that they're broken up and she's devastated," Clara said eagerly, clasping her hands together ahead of her. "I've had it from Miranda over at work, she's dating Bekah's brother Chris."

"Huh," Kate reached across the couch to scratch Ozzie's ears, he sent her a curious look. "Well serves them right."

"You aren't going to…. I dunno, try and get back together with him?" Clara prompted, curiosity seeded in her tone.

Kate laughed bitterly, "Get back together with my lout of an ex-husband who cheated on me, behind my back for nearly a year, and thought that suggesting we _have a child together_ would make things all better, once I'd found out?" She raised a brow, "Are you mental?"

Ozzie looked for a second startled, and let out a low growl, which hate Kate smiling. It was a well-timed growl, even if he really _couldn't _understand what she was saying. She was inclined to agree with her dogs judgment of character.

"Yeah… you have a point there," Clara shrugged, flopping back on the sofa. "I just know how affected you were when you split."

Kate laughed dryly, "For a while I thought Thom was all I had by means of family," She shrugged, "Even if he was an asshole at times, I still _saw _him every day, cooked meals with him, slept next to him," She shrugged. "I loved him, but he obviously didn't feel the same way if I was so easy to forget." She smiled at her friend. "It was nearly a year ago now Clara, and to be honest, I'm much better off." She scratched Ozzie's behind the ears again. "But…. I _could _do with a fire whiskey."

* * *

The girl-who-walked-through-the-veil, or Loren LaCroix, had become something of a celebrity, at least around the ministry of magic. She, however, was keen to be anything but. She was certain to scream if she'd been prodded with another needle, force fed another nutritional potion, or asked another bloody question about where she'd been.

_She didn't know._

The sooner that everyone got that through their thick heads, and actually listened to her, the sooner she could get on with things. She didn't know where she'd been, or what she had meant when she'd appeared in front of a startled Luis Oswin asking "Did we make it?" She certainly didn't know who she had meant when she had used the pronoun "We," and she didn't remember a thing about her time spent beyond the veil.

The last thing, in fact, that she remembered was venturing _into_ the veil, after volunteering for the mission on a whim. She was startled to discover that that venture had that had occurred nearly 57 years ago.

She'd absolutely refused to believe such a statement, until they'd brought in one of her old co-workers from retirement to talk with her. Although Loren hadn't seemed to age a day, time had gone on without her. Her coworker, who she'd remembered as young and vibrant, with a bit of an off-color sense of humor, had aged almost 60 years, growing grey hair and a more sensible nature, after having lived through the _two _wizarding wars that Loren had somehow skipped.

Her second inquiry had been after her children, still young when she'd disappeared, now grown. She was stupid for volunteering for the expedition in the first place, especially with two children at home. At the time she had been young, a female in a male dominated work environment and she had been anxious to prove herself.

When she had stepped through the veil, there had been no doubt in her mind that she would return. They'd make it back, they had to. And make it back she had, nearly 60 years too late.

Loren wasn't sure how to take _this _bit of news. Her son, the very son who she'd promised to be home in time for a bed time story just that morning (in her messed up vision of time), had died in the first wizarding war, and her daughter was nearly 30 years older than _she was_, with children of her own none the less.

In fact, Loren was seemingly closer in age to her _own _grandchildren, a disconcerting thought at the very least.

Loren it seemed, was quite literally out of time, and she didn't quite know what that meant for herself, her future, and her sanity.

* * *

Ozzie ran away on a Tuesday. Kate had taken to bringing the dog with her on her hikes, and they were deep in the woods when the sky, which had been threatening storms all week, had given out at long last. Battling a suddenly mud slicked hill, she'd accidentally dropped her grasp on Ozzie's leash.

He'd made a break for it.

It wasn't something she had been expecting. And it had caught her so off guard that she stood motionless on the hill for nearly a minute before reacting. "Shit." She muttered, pushing wet hair out of her eyes. "OZZIE!" She yelled into the darkening woods. "OZ!"

Maybe he was afraid of thunderstorms. Maybe the rain had spooked him. Or maybe he'd been looking for an opportunity to escape ever since Kate had adopted him. No matter the reason, she felt the familiar crippling signs of an oncoming anxiety attack spreading through her.

She took off at a run, chasing after her dog blindly, and shouting his name, growing more and more panicked as time went on. She fell twice, stumbled down a hill, effectively covering herself in bruises and scrapes, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

Instead, she sunk down onto her knees in a clearing and felt tears mingling with the rain. She was defeated, soaking wet, and she was having a hard time breathing. "Please Ozzie," She said, voice coming out as a strangled sob, "Please don't leave me too," She hadn't just how attached she'd grown to the grim until she was facing losing him forever.

She felt, for a second, like a lost child, and somehow, she couldn't bring herself to care. "Please don't leave me, everyone leaves me." She buried her face in her knees and let the sobs wrack her body. She'd only had Ozzie for a few weeks, hardly any time at all in the span of things, but somehow, she didn't know how she'd manage without him.

He'd become a fixture in her life. A strange, quirky fixture and she could honestly say that she loved the dog. And now, losing him was just too much.

A cold nose pressed into her neck and Kate looked up to see Ozzie, _her _Ozzie, sitting next to her, the gaze in his eyes almost…guilty and apologetic. Without thinking twice, Kate wrapped her arms around her dog, sobbing into his fur, until Ozzie was licking the tears away, "Stop that," A laugh broke through, and she pulled away to study her dog. "I thought….I thought I'd lost you." She said brokenly. "I thought…. I didn't think I'd see you again."

Ozzie looked up at her, concern in his eyes, but stayed seated, next to her, letting the girl hug him, and he silently resolved to stay there, for as long as she needed him.

* * *

Something was different after that day in the rain; it was as if Ozzie was resigned to living with her, to loving her. As if in one minute he'd become _hers_. He became even more loyal, and fiercely protective than he'd hinted at before. He was no longer objected to sleeping in her bed, he stayed close to her without a leash on their walks. He greeted her warmly at the door when she arrived home; snuggled close to her when she curled up with a book on the couch, and even seemed to watch the telly with her at night.

Kate still spoiled him with homemade food and treats, "I wouldn't do this for just anyone," She'd told him, "Then again, I've always wanted a big family to cook for," She raised her eyes at her dog. "You'll do."

She wasn't quite sure when it had happened, but Ozzie became her best friend. It was something she'd joked to the dog "Don't tell Clara," though she was fairly convinced he looked downright _smug_, when she'd told him.

He may have been a strange dog, but he was _her_ strange dog, and she loved him for it. She loved him for his expressions and odd comprehension of everything she'd said. She loved him for his strange eating habits, and protective nature. He became a nearly constant companion, except for when she went into work, and she wouldn't have her life any other way.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **All canon characters, scenery and plot references are the property of J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from this story in any way.

**Rating**: T for language

**Summary: **Sometimes life throws you surprises, some days are good, some days are bad…some days, it turns out your dog is actually an escaped convict. Eh… Ces't la vie.

**Author's Note:** I am wholly incapable of saying the words 'no.' I've just quit a job which madly overworked me, and was looking forward to a solid….i don't know….week? two weeks? Month?! Of unemployed writing and writing and cooking and relaxing bliss before I started _looking _for a new job. But lo' and behold, a friend asks a favor, and I start a new job, the Monday AFTER my last Friday at my old job. Okay, so it's a good job, I shouldn't complain, but I think I need a vacation already…. Hope your weekends are going swimmingly!

**ForensicGeek2**: One of the things I love so much about Sirius Black's character, is his fierce loyalty to his friends, even to a fault, I like to think that I may have emulated that with his relationship with Kate! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! You guys are so, so great!

* * *

**Four**

Kate came to find out just_ how _over-protective her dog could be on Sunday, when her ex-husband stopped over at the house.

She'd been in one of the gardens, gathering murlap and agrimony for a potion, when he'd apparated at the edge of her property, looking around. "You've moved." He stated blandly, striding towards her in quick steps. Ozzie leapt up from where he'd been napping lazily, and threw himself between Kate and her ex, barking. "What the hell?!" Thom exclaimed, surprised.

"What are you doing here Thom," Kate shot a glare to her ex, fingers grasping her wand tightly.

"Can we all just calm the fuck down for two seconds?" Thom's eyes were wide, and he was staring at the dog that was baring his teeth at him.

Kate winced, standing and brushing off her pants. "Ozzie, Come." She ordered. The dog swung his head around to her looking as though that was the _last _thing that he wanted, but walked towards her anyway, stopping at her side and growling lowly at the stranger.

"What the hell is that?" Thom's grip was on his wand too, a motion that did not seem to sit well with Ozzie at all.

"My dog."

"When the hell did you get a dog," His gaze was still on the grim," And why the hell did you get such a big one?"

"I don't believe that's any of your business Thom" Kate said shortly, "What are you doing here?"

"Katie," He took a step towards her, Ozzie's growling increased. "I'm so sorry, I fucked up. Really." He shook his head, "We just got married so young, and I didn't realize how good I had it until you were gone."

Kate rolled her eyes, "You _cheated _on me Thom, no, you had an _affair._" She shook her head, "So I'm sorry, but get the hell off my property."

"I can't do that Katie, not until you've heard me out." Thom pleaded.

Ozzie's growling grew louder, and Kate wrapped a hand around his collar, holding him back. "I think you should leave Thom." She glanced down at her dog. "Or I'll let him lose, and something tells me you wouldn't be able to take us both on." She said coolly, raising her wand a fraction of an inch, "Besides, Ozzie is a bit less forgiving than me." She added nonchalantly.

"Please Katie, I just want to talk," Thom begged, but Kate stood firm.

"And I just don't want you here, I'm sorry you've just now realized your mistake, but it's been a year, I've moved on, and I'm happy without you." She said firmly. "So leave me the hell alone."

"Katie-" Thom took two steps forward. And then, Kate let go of Ozzie's leash. He sprang forward, growling wildly, and was across the yard in seconds, Thom yelped, and apparated away, barely making it in time.

"Good Boy," Kate told her dog.

* * *

"Did you know that Nymphadora Tonks married a werewolf?" Clara asked one day, when she, Kate and their friend Morgan were sitting on the back porch of Kate's farm house working their way through a bottle of elvish wine. Ozzie had lifted his head, ears perking at the change in conversation from boys and work.

"She was the Hufflepuff a few years below us, yeah?" Morgan asked, taking a long sip of her wine. "The one with the hair?"

"She's a Metamorphmagus," Kate rolled her eyes at her friend, "If that's what you mean by the _hair."_

"Handy that, being able to change your face and hair," Clara remarked dreamily.

"She was really nice," Kate remembered, "A bit clumsy, but nice all the same," she smiled, "Good for her."

"Good for her?" Morgan raised an eyebrow. "She married a werewolf!"

"So?" Kate questioned, "I married an asshole, and he wasn't one of those just on the full moon," She muttered, sipping her wine. It might have been her imagination, but she could have sworn that Ozzie gave a snort from where he was curled near Kate's feet.

"I don't know, it's kind of romantic, isn't it?" Clara mused.

"Clara, I don't think you should take romance novels as a base for actual relationships," Kate rolled her eyes again, "You romanticize everything."

"And you romanticize nothing, you're too practical for your own good," Clara straightened defensively.

"Disillusioned is more the like," Kate didn't look the least bit fazed. "Romance is dead, marriage is a farce, and love fades over time."

"Bloody hell, there's an opinion for you," Clara's eyes widened.

"At this rate, you'll be living here as a lonely old spinster for the rest of your days," Morgan teased. "Just you and the dog."

"Eh, Ozzie's better than most of the boyfriends I've had, Loyal, non-judgmental, excited to see me when I come home." She laughed, "He's a great listener, _and _he loves me."

"Which says nothing for the quality of men you've dated," Morgan grinned.

"What can I say? I've got a penchant for picking losers, I'm starting to think that it's a skill," Kate downed the rest of her wine. "I'll take Oz over an idiot boyfriend any day."

* * *

Loren LaCroix was at a loss. The world had changed drastically in the last 60 years, and she was no longer sure of her place in it. She'd always been certain of her future, certain of her job and her children, and more than anything, certain that she would marry Rickey LaCroix, and live a long and happy life with him.

She'd visited his grave twice now since returning through the veil, he'd died nearly 25 years ago, and Loren was still having a hard time believing it. To her, it had been just that morning that she'd seen her husband and children. And though she was aware on some level, that some time had passed between then and now, she couldn't imagine not going home to their house, and see her babies.

She couldn't imagine never dancing around the kitchen with her husband again; she could scarcely believe that there would be no more late night ice cream seeking adventures, and deep conversations about their plans for their children and their future, or Christmases spent with snowball fights and presents. But it was all gone, her children, and her husband both.

They'd married young, just out of Hogwarts, too young, in many of their friend's opinions. But they were in love. Hopelessly and unequivocally in love. They'd dated since they were fourteen, and knew that they were soul mates early on. So what did it matter that they married young? What did it matter that they just made being together a little more official.

She visited her son's grave next; Conner La Croix was buried next to his father. Conner's death, she was having an even harder time coming to terms with. Although her daughter, Leticia had been six, Conner had only been three when his mother had disappeared. He was a toddler, and there was a very good chance that he had never remembered his mother. Loren knew who her son had been as a three year old, but she knew nothing about the man that he had grown into, and she found herself desperate for information.

It had taken some time to track down Leticia, or Letty as she had come to be called. And once she did, Loren wasn't sure if she could just step back into her daughter's life after being gone for 57_ years._ Letty would be 63. Her daughter, her baby was _63! _

Her daughter would have lived for 30 years longer than her mother, had children of her own, and likely grand-children. Loren had no idea how she would fit. But… the sorting hat _had put _her into Gryffindor for a reason, and so, she asked one of her new contacts at the Department of Mysteries to ask her daughter to come in.

She'd asked if Director Drew would be the one to break the news. To tell Letty that her mother had reappeared, looking as young as ever, with no memory of where she'd gone, and no notion of time passing.

Loren's _own _reunion with her daughter had been bittersweet. Her daughter looked a fair bit like Loren's own deceased mother, and nothing at all like the six year old she'd left behind. And Letty had been in a minor state of shock.

She didn't say a word while Loren stumbled through a heartfelt apology about never meaning to leave, never knowing she was gone, having no notion of time, and never being there for her children. She didn't say a word, while Loren did her best to summarize the situation of how she'd come back, and her face didn't betray a single emotion.

But she did answer questions. Letty told her about her husband, a coach for an up and coming professional Quidditch team, her children, three daughters, all of which had children of their own, and most importantly she told her mother about Conner.

"He died young, saving a muggle family in the first war" Letty said, little emotion in her voice, "Conner always was fond of muggles, he married one actually, a girl name Charlotte." She pursed her lips, "Though as it turned out, his wife wasn't too keen on him being a wizard, and divorced him once she found out."

"Conner adored her though, and his wife probably knew him better than I ever did," She told him bristly, "We were never close as far as siblings went, but I know he adored his wife, even gave her your ring, they found it in your work desk." She shook her head, "She'd be able to tell you more about him if you could track her down somehow."

The rest of the conversation had gone decently, Letty had been reluctant to show any emotion, or say too much about her life, and Loren couldn't blame her. She could scarcely imagine what the woman must be going through, seeing the mother that she thought was long dead.

It was clear that her relationship with her daughter was never going to be what she had hoped, and it was clear, that her daughter didn't want a relationship at all. "It…was nice to know what happened to you," Lettie had told her, "But…I'd appreciate if you didn't contact me again."

Loren was sure that the words broke her heart.

.

* * *

Remus Lupin was having a bad day. It wasn't something that surprised him really, this close to the full moon, but it seemed that everything that could go wrong, had. His mother-in-law, Andromena, who was due to watch Teddy for the day had come down with a nasty stomach bug, and had flooed early in the morning to say that she couldn't come.

Next, he'd gotten in a nasty argument with his wife, Tonks, about which one of them would stay home from work, (both having important meetings that they couldn't possibly miss). She had won, of course, but he'd said some uncharacteristically unkind things, that he'd no doubt be paying for later.

Their fighting had prematurely woken up the boy in question, who had been cranky and miserable all morning, fighting a nasty case of sniffles, and using his two-year-old temper to yell and scream and prolong his nap, which led to Remus taking him on an unfortunately long stroll of the park. The boy, refused anything but his father's carrying of him, and even with his extra werewolf strength, Remus was feeling exhausted.

The park was deserted this time of day, save a few mothers keeping wary eyes on their children, and a girl walking her dog.

He froze, eyes darting to the girl, and focusing in on her with lightning-fast reflexes. He was going mental, he had to be. He'd lost too much over the years, lived to long with a dual personality, and it was finally catching up to him. That was the only logical explanation that he could think of.

Because nothing logical in his mind could piece together why a dog that looked and smelled exactly like his best friend in his anamagus form would be walking next to a tall witch with straight brown hair and blue eyes.

Nothing about the situation made sense at all. But there was no doubt in his mind. The dog was Sirius Black.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **All canon characters, scenery and plot references are the property of J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from this story in any way.

**Rating**: T for language

**Summary: **Sirius Black has been a prisoner of many places. Azkaban, his parent's house, a muggle animal shelter….but never before has he been trapped inside his own body, in his own anamagus form. There's a first time for everything.

**Author's Note:** As much fun as Sirius was to write as a dog, I'm really looking forward to writing him as a not-dog. I start a new job tomorrow, so I'm posting an extra chapter this weekend in case my posting schedule is a little wonky the next few days. Thanks so much for reading!

* * *

_Come a little closer, then you'll see  
Things aren't always what they seem to be,  
Do you understand the things that you've been seeing?  
Do you understand, the things that you've been dreaming?  
(Come a little Closer – Cage the Elephant)_

* * *

**Five**

Even before she was married and pregnant Loren La Croix had a strange talent for losing things. There was a fairly ridiculous amount of things she'd managed to misplace in her life, hairbrushes, tubes of lipstick, jewelry, books, socks (oddly, usually the left one), she'd even once managed to lose her entire Hogwarts trunk, filled with all of her belongings.

Her husband Ricky used to call it a talent, he used to tell her that she would have lost her right hand, if it hadn't been attached to her. It became a joke between them over the years. When they bought their first house together, he'd ordered her not to misplace it, "Don't you dare lose the baby." He'd teased her, after she'd had Lettie and again with Conner.

He'd always held tightly onto her hand throughout the years, and told her that the one thing that she would never, ever lose, was him.

Instead, he had lost her. If he was alive, and she didn't miss him so much, she'd have teased him mercilessly about the irony of it.

When he had proposed to her, he did so by explaining why he'd been spending so much time in the library after NEWTS were done at Hogwarts:

"_I've managed to locate a spell," He told her with a grin on one of their walks around the Black Lake. _

"_Oh?" She'd asked, smiling lovingly at him, as she clutched his hand in hers. She could hardly believe that they were graduating Hogwarts next week, and that they'd be leaving the grounds forever. _

_He stopped walking, turning to face her, "It reacts to an enchantment placed on a specific item, and if you happen to lose this item, you can cast a spell, and use your wand to lead you to it." He was grinning, and looking a little nervous. _

"_Really?" Loren's eyes had lit up, "That's amazing!" She couldn't hide her excitement, "You found this for me?" _

"_Yes, and I already cast it on an item," He said slowly, "A graduation gift for you, and one you'll hopefully never lose now," He added, ignoring the sour look that crossed her face. They'd agreed not to get each other gifts, so they could save up for the flat they wanted to buy out of school. "The incantation is anulus inveneris."_

"_Ricky-" Loren shook her head, meaning to argue with the gift._

"_I've hidden it somewhere near the lake," He told her with a shaky smile, "Try it out, for me?" _

_Despite herself, Loren was thrilled, she'd always loved surprises, and her boyfriend had a tendency to be brilliant at them. She shook her head, and turned to the lake holding her wand ahead of her. "Anulus inveneris." _

_Her wand spun in a circle twice, and surprisingly, the tip pointed towards her, towards Ricky. She spun around again, to ask him what he was trying to pull, only to find him down on one knee ahead of her, a box with a ring inside in one of his hands. She gasped. _

"_Lo, I love you." He told her, "And I've no idea how I got so lucky as to have you." He took a shaky breath. "I know we've both been thinking about the future lately, with graduation being so near, and I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know where we're going to be in 5 years, in 10…but I do know that I want to spend them with you. Every single future that I can possibly imagine has you in it. And I don't want a future that you're not in." He swallowed. "There are something's that are okay to lose, but there are some things worth keeping forever, and you're one of those things Lo." He paused, "Marry Me?"_

In the course of their life together, she'd had to use the spell only four times to find her missing ring. And now, standing in front of Ricky's grave, and thinking about the forever that they'd promised to share, she thought back to Letty's words.

"His wife probably knew him better than I did," She had said. "Conner adored her, even gave her your ring, they found it in your work desk." She had said, "She'd be able to tell you more about him if you could track her down somehow."

Loren knew that if Conner's wife still had her ring, she could get to know her, and her son, by extension. There was a chance that she'd pawned it off, or sold it, and worst case scenario, Loren would never get to see her ring again, but it was a risk she was willing to take.

Touching her son and husband's tomb stones, she raised her wand. "_Anulus inveneris._"

* * *

It had been months since Ozzie had taken off the first time. The weather was turning chill with the first signs of fall, and the days were growing shorter. Kate had been opting for shorter walks with Ozzie, choosing local blocks and parks, especially on work nights, staving off the longer hikes until the weekends, before the weather turned too bad.

This particularly day was extraordinarily blustery, and she was regretting her scarf at home, she looked around, wondering if she could conjure one, but there were too many muggles in sight, including one who seemed to be staring right at her.

He was tall and slim, with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes and was wearing a brown coat. He had a child clutched to his side, a boy with brown curls, bundled and in his father's arm.

Ozzie noticed them too, his whole body tensing, as he stared at the man, a low whine coming from the back of his throat.

And then, in a rush, he sprang forward, ripping the leash (city ordinance requirement) out of Kate's unsuspecting hand, and barreling over to the stranger and his child.

"Ozzie! Oz! Come back!" Kate gave a start, chasing after her dog. Ozzie had skidded to a halt next to the man, barking and dancing around his heels.

"I'm so sorry," Kate rushed forward, but to her immense surprise the man didn't seem at all affected by Ozzie and was grinning.

"You resilient son of a bitch," The man said with a laugh, shaking his head incredibly, and staring at Ozzie wide eyed, "How the hell are you still alive?"

"It er…seems like you know my dog?" Kate stepped forward awkwardly, looking between Ozzie and the man. The man looked up startled, studying her.

"We've met before," He said noncommittally, "His name is Sirius," He said slowly, looking conflicted.

"Oh like the dog star?" She blinked back her surprise, "That's clever."

The man blinked, "No, like Sirius Black."

"The escaped convict?" Kate laughed, "That's an odd thing to name a dog for," She scanned the man over, startling when the boy in his arms changed his brown curls to bright blue ones with a _pop._ The man cursed, and went for something in his pocket. A wand! Ozzie barked, looking alarmed.

"You're son is a metamorphmagus?" Kate asked quickly, eyes darting to the man.

"You're a witch?" The man asked surprised, he seemed to let out a long breath. "Oh thank Merlin, I hadn't the faintest idea how else I'd explain to a muggle that her dog is actually an anamagus." The man let out a relieved huff, and then froze, realizing he'd let the cat out of the bag prematurely.

Kate snorted, "You think my dog is an anamagus?" She coughed out another laugh, before they became giddy and hysterical. "Ozzie?" She chortled, "Oh that's a good one, who put you up to that? Was it Clara? Owen?" She pushed hair out of her eyes.

The man was frowning, and looking dangerously serious. "I'm sorry to say that it is not a joke." He shot a look to Ozzie, who was sitting as still as a statue, tension evident in every muscle. "This dog is Sirius Black."

"Okay, let me get this straight," Kate rolled her eyes, and tried to hold in another laugh, "You're trying to tell me that you think my dog is an anamagus, a wizard, a _convict, _at that_,_" She wondered _just _how crazy this man was. "Assuming for a minute that I believe you, why hasn't he transformed back? Why has he lived with me for the last few months pretending to be my dog?" She shook her head, incredulously eyeing the man. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite place how she knew him.

"I don't know," The stranger shook his head, "Let's ask him."

"Yeah, okay, alright, that'll go well," Kate rolled her eyes. "Hey Ozzie, why are you still a dog?" She asked her dog. Ozzie stared back, an intent look on his face.

"There's a spell," The man assured her, "One that will force him to change back, and for some reason, this is a freak accident, and I'm wrong, it will not harm him."

"Go on then," Kate snorted, setting down the leash and ready to get this whole day over with. It'd make a funny story to tell the girls later, at least. It wasn't every day that a man came up to you and told you that your dog was an escaped convict.

The man ahead of her frowned, reaching for his pocket and shifting his sleeping son into his left arm, he looked down at the dog. "Sirius?" He asked slowly.

Ozzie nodded, shooting a worried glance to Kate, who suddenly couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from her dog.

Come to think of it, if Ozzie was actually a wizard, it might explain away off of his weird quirks. Why he refused dog food, or how he could understand conversations, why he'd perked up when she'd told him she'd wanted to adopt him in the first place. He'd first shown an interest in her when she mentioned grims and their symbolism in wizarding culture.

Her smile faded, and she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. As much as she wanted to believe that this man in front of her was crazy, there was a part of her that knew that his words had to be true. She knew that Ozzie acted like too much of a person to be a dog.

She felt rather shaky on her feet as she watched the man with sandy hair quickly glance around the park for any curious onlookers, and then raise his wand to level it on Ozzie. Ozzie was sitting patiently ahead of them, but excitement and nerves flashed through his eyes, and he shot Kate another worried look. Kate felt sick.

"_Verum corpus," _The man muttered, and a flash of blue-white light erupted from his wand, hitting Ozzie square in the chest. For a moment, Ozzie was frozen, and then there was another flash of light, and there was a man sitting on the walkway.

He was naked and pale, and scars and tattoos covered his thin body. Long dark hair tangled in a nest at the back of his head, the same color and texture as Ozzie's fur had been. He had a rough beard and the the same grey eyes, still locked on Kate, but it was a man, all the same.

Ozzie, or Sirius Black, winced and rubbed at his neck, where a collar had been seconds before, it was now in his hands. "Ouch," were the first words out of his mouth.

Kate took a step back, shaking her head. Her dog, her _dog _was actually a man. Her dog was a wizard that had been pretending to be a dog. _Her dog._ He had been all this time. The _months _that he'd lived with her, he'd been a man.

She took another step back. It was too much, she couldn't make a lick of sense from it, but one thing was clear in her mind. She needed to get the hell out of here. Hand clutching her wand, she shook her head again, and then she spun, dissipating with a _pop._

* * *

Despite the fact that she expected him to come, the knocking on her door still startled her into scattering her papers all across the floor. She cursed, and stood quickly, grasping her wand tightly in hand as she made her way to the door. It had been a day since the park, and she had been on edge ever since.

Sirius Black was standing behind the screen. He was, mercifully wearing clothes, dark jeans and a leather jacket, both of which showed off his slim body. He had shaved and showered, even gotten a haircut at some point, and Kate couldn't deny that he was a rather attractive man, despite the fact that she wanted to hex him into oblivion.

"Go away." She pointed her wand at the screen door sending a non-verbal locking spell at it. She'd have to adjust the wards around her house, so he couldn't get this close in the future.

"Kate- if I could just explain…"

"I said, _go away_," She growled, leveling her wand at his face.

"I just want to-"

"You want to what?! Explain to me why the hell awizard would _pretend _to be my dog for the last _7 months!?"_ She shouted, anger rippling through her tone, and sparks shooting from the tip of her wand. Sirius eyed it cautiously.

"I was stuck," He said quickly, in an attempt to get the words out before she could interrupt him again, "I couldn't change back, I don't know why, but I was stuck as a dog-"

"I cooked for you!" Her shouting picked up in volume. She was furious. "I let you sleep in my _bed_!" She winced, at the very thought. "I don't give a damn that you were stuck, you lived her with me for….god….months!" She was shaking, but there were tears visible in her eyes. "I thought you…Ozzie was someone that I could trust…someone who…" She shook her head, voice dropping to a whisper. "Why did you stay?"

The question seemed to catch the man standing ahead of her off guard. He pushed a hand through his hair and winced, "You asked me to." He said slowly, "You were alone, and you asked me to stay…"

"I wish you hadn't," Kate said coldly, "I wish you'd just go," She said, taking a step back. She slammed the wooden door shut in his face, and then, she let the tears fall.

* * *

A knocking at her door had Kate growling in anger. Sirius had come back twice since his first visit, and she'd pretended not to be home both times, annoyed. There was nothing he could say, nothing that he could do that would make up for his betrayal and she had quite honestly, had enough.

With a new determination, she marched to the back door, ripping it open, "I swear to god, if you don't leave me the hell alone-" She stopped short. Standing outside was a woman, and not Sirius like she had expected.

The girl was about her age, maybe a little older, and had straight brown hair and green eyes. She was slim, and was wearing a floral dress and strappy sandals, looking anxious.

"-Oh, hello," Kate said sheepishly, pushing her own brown hair out of her eyes and studying the woman. She got the strange sense that she was looking into a mirror. "I er…was expecting someone else." She cracked the screen open.

"That's alright," The woman said softly, "I did show up rather unexpectedly." She fidgeted with the wand in her hands, and Kate wondered just for a moment if this woman was a threat, and if she should have drawn her own.

The woman didn't look much like a threat, feverously biting her lip and twirling the wand in her hands. And maybe Kate _was _overly suspicious of everyone, an old habit from surviving a war, she supposed. But then again, maybe she couldn't trust her own judgment, she _had _trusted Ozzie.

"Err… Can I help you?" Kate asked, carefully, eyes darting to the wand again.

"I'm looking for….er….. Charlotte La Croix?" The woman worried her bottom lip.

Kate snorted, "She never went by La Croix, but I'm sorry, she's dead." She said bluntly, not really in the mood to break the news lightly to this stranger.

"Oh," The woman frowned, her eyes fixed on Kate, and her brow narrowed, "Are you her daughter?"

"Yeah, I'm Katherine Lawrence," Kate said bluntly, wishing that everyone would go away and leave her alone. "Who are you?"

The woman took a breath, "My name is Loren La Croix, and…. Well I actually think that I'm your grandmother."

* * *

**A/N: **Because who doesn't love a good plot twist? Have a great week!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **All canon characters, scenery and plot references are the property of J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from this story in any way.

**Rating**: T for language

**Summary: ** The ministry of magic's _Veil of Death_ has always been shrouded with mystery. So what are the chances that Kate Lawrence would meet two of the only people to ever have returned? Sometimes, luck is a strange thing.

**Author's Note:** This week has been a doozy, A new job and an intense bout of the stomach flu. Apologies for not updating sooner. I think I'll go and sleep for a week.

**Des: **Kate just found out that her pet of half a year is actually _a man_ (a man who has seen her naked, slept in her bed, and been constant companion to Kate's ramblings and thoughts). She'll give him a shot to explain eventually, but she is understandably angry. I know I would be if my dog turned out to be a person! (Though if it was Sirius Black, I might not care!) As always, thanks for reading!

* * *

_What would you say was the matter,  
When we all looked at each other  
When we all cried together  
I was right._

_**Anywhere you looked- Au Revoir Simone**_

* * *

**Six**

When Kate was seven, she thought that she was normal. She had a best friend in the girl two flats over, a fantastic rock collection, and a loving mother. She was top of her class at the muggle primary school she attended, and had a stuffed pink rabbit that she'd very originally named Pinky, but there was nothing extraordinary about her.

To her, magic could only be found in Mickey Mouse in fantasia, or in one of the fairy tales that her mother read to her at bedtime. She knew nothing about her father, or witchcraft, or _real_ magic, until her first bout of accidental magic that very summer.

She didn't remember much about the incident, only that she had been furious with her mother. Charlotte was on the phone, cooking dinner, and ignoring her daughter, who had been trying to show her mother a pirouette that she'd learned in ballet class the night before. She'd been perfecting it all day at school, and when her mother hadn't paid her any attention, she blew out every single window in the flat they'd been living in at the time.

Kate didn't remember that there had been a police inquiry, and inspections from both the gas and electric companies, but she _did _remember the look on her mother's face. She had grown shockingly pale, eyes wide, and she hardly spoke a word for nearly three hours.

Kate hadn't either, clutching Pinky to her chest, and imagining just _how _much trouble she'd be in for this. Grounded forever surely, with no dessert, she'd never seen her mother so shocked. But to her surprise, her mother had sat her down and told her a story, one that Kate had never heard before.

The story was about the father that was rarely spoken of. Her father had been a wizard, who had attended a magical school called Hogwarts, and he had met Charlotte after he'd graduated, and they had fallen in love. The story was about how they'd gotten married and had a daughter, _"That's me!" Kate had exclaimed, excitedly._

The story was about how the daughter had inherited her father's magic, and how she might attend her father's school one day. It quickly became her favorite story in the world.

From that day, Kate had fallen in love with magic. And as the years went by, she grew to love it even more. Over the years she'd seen lampshades turn to lizards, ridden on hippogriffs and broomsticks, brewed potions, and changed the color of her kitchen walls dependent on her mood, and that was only skimming the surface.

Magic was wonderful, and the only thing that tied her to the father she'd never known. It always held new and exciting surprises, and always seemed to catch her off guard.

But, at the moment, Kate was tired of those surprises. And she was sick of being caught off guard.

It had taken a few days, but she was just now coming to grasps with the notion that her dog was a person. What she couldn't seem to come to terms with, was how the woman standing at her door was her grandmother.

Kate had long since accepted the fact that her family was gone. Her father had died before she'd ever gotten a chance to know him. Her mother had died two years ago. Her ex-husband had lost the privilege of being considered family, and her dog had turned into a rather handsome man (she'd research the truth in the princess and the frog tale someday).

But now, there was a woman standing outside claiming to be family, her _only _family. She was maybe 30 at most, with straight brown hair and green eyes, and she was chewing on her lip nervously, a trait that Kate had apparently inherited.

"Alight then." She'd replied simply after several long minutes.

"Alright then?" Loren asked incredulously. "A stranger that looks your age comes to your door and tells you that she's your grandmother and you just say 'alright then?!'" She stared at the girl who was probably her grand-daughter, aghast.

"We're witches," Kate said blandly back, "Shouldn't we be used to the impossible by now?"

Loren was still staring, wide eyed.

"Listen," Kate said impatiently, "At worst you're lying to me, though, I can't imagine why you'd lie to me about such a thing. At best, you've got an interesting story, but we live in a world with de-aging potions, and spells and potions that can alter appearances." She said simply. "Either way, you look enough like me for me to at least hear you out before I start outright accusing you of being insane or a liar," She cracked the door open. "Would you like some tea?"

* * *

"So…" Kate was staring across the table at Loren LaCroix, trying to wrap her head around the story that she had just heard. Loren had told her everything, from her journey through the veil, to coming home and searching for the remnants of her family, which, other than a daughter that wanted nothing to do with her, had come down to Kate.

"Let me get this straight," She said, "you're an unspeakable for the Ministry, or at least you were 60 years ago, went missing, and now you're trying to track down your family, which apparently includes my estranged father, who was three when you disappeared?" She took a sip of her tea. "Oh, and you're my grandmother."

Her lips twitched against the porcelain of the cup. There was a part of her that wanted to laugh hysterically at the oddities that had become the norm in her life

"I know this all must sound really strange to you," Loren hadn't touched her tea, but her fingers were dancing along the lip of the mug, and she was worrying her lip again.

"Normally I'd agree with you," Kate said wryly, "but you'd be surprised at the strange things that have been happening to me this week," She gave a dry chuckle. "I'm actually more surprised at the fact that I have an aunt and cousins that I've never heard about, but then again, I did only meet my dad once."

Loren frowned, "Oh."

"Mum…Er... mum left him when she found out that he was a Wizard," Kate tried to explain. "She was from a very….strict religious family, and couldn't come to terms with it once he'd told her. 'course, he did wait until after they were married to spring it on her." She shook her head.

"She loved him," Kate continued, trying to sooth the concerned look on Loren's face. "I know she regretted leaving him, especially once she found out that I was a witch, but by then, it was too late." She pursed her lips. "There's some old journals and pictures up in the attic that you're more than welcome to look through, I went through a phase of trying to find out everything I could about him myself," She smiled. "And I'll tell you everything I know about him, which regrettably, isn't that much."

"Thank you," Loren said slowly, finally taking a sip of her tea.

Kate studied the woman's face. This was her _grandmother, _and she shared enough traits with the woman to recognize that the woman was trying to mask just how upset that she was_. _"Are you alright?" she asked finally, "None of this can be very easy on you," Kate frowned, "Waking up one day to find that everyone you love is…bloody hell."

To her surprise, Loren laughed, "You know, you're actually the first person to ask me that." She shook her head, and took a shaky breath, "No, I'm not okay, I don't think I will be okay for a long time, but I'm trying to keep myself busy, trying to keep moving forward, because….I don't know what else I could do. As much as I'd love to cry at the unfairness of this all, it wouldn't be very productive."

"That's a good attitude to take on," Kate said, shooting her a warm smile, "I wish I'd gotten those genes, me, I tend to wallow. I'm just _now_ getting back into the world after getting divorced last year."

"You were married?" Loren asked curiously.

"Yeah, to an arse," Kate shrugged, looking around and taking a second to consider. "So…Loren, sorry, I don't think I'm capable of calling you Gran," She muttered, Loren laughed. "Do you think you'd want to stay for dinner? We can talk more?"

"You know, I don't think there's anywhere I'd rather be."

* * *

For a group of people who had, just a few years ago, seen Harry Potter die and come back to life, the remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix hadn't taken too well to the news that Sirius had done the same.

He'd been met with questions, accusations and wands, and once he'd proven himself by answering several dozen security questions, and questioning under veritaserum, he had a tearful reunion with his godson. Harry had lost nearly every parental figure in his life by the time he was 15, and was overjoyed to have his Sirius back.

Still, Sirius was thankful when the order meeting ended, and the house quieted down a fair bit. The chaos had come as a wildly unexpected surprise, not unwelcome, but a change nevertheless. He'd grown used to the silence of the farmhouse with Kate, and he hadn't been around this many people in a long time.

And he was even more thankful, to be left alone in the study at Grimmauld place with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Remus for company. He'd managed to tease Remus mercilessly over marrying Nymphadora Tonks, his cousin, though; he couldn't fault his best friend for looking happier than Sirius had seen him in 20 years. "Married with a kid Moony, who'd have thought?"

"Not you surely, Remus had replied, with a wide grin. "But even at the best of times you'd vowed to be a bachelor for life," Remus grinned, thanking merlin again for giving him his best friend back. Sirius considered mentioning something about domesticity not being so bad, but instead he stretched out on the sofa. "Merlin, It's good to be a person again."

"How long were you stuck as a dog?" Harry asked, leaning forward. He hadn't let his godfather out of his sight since the meeting.

"About a year and a half, give or take," Sirius said, with a scowl. "It wasn't as much fun as it sounds."

"It doesn't sound very fun to begin with," Ron said grimly, Hermione elbowed him in the side and he winced. "Sorry."

"Why didn't you come back sooner?" Harry asked, chewing on his lip. "Find one of us that knew you…"

"I tried," Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose, "Several times, but muggles don't take well to a stray dog wandering the busy streets of London in an attempt to get to Diagon, and it landed me in more than one muggle pound." He decided that it might be best to leave out the fact that he'd stayed with Kate because she'd asked him. As much as he'd wanted to get back to his Godson, he'd felt obligated to stay. "Got myself adopted by a witch actually."

"The one in the park," Remus recognized, studying his friend curiously, "She was…"

"Much better than the pound," Sirius said quickly. Too quickly, Remus's eyes narrowed in on his friend, but no one else seemed to have caught it.

"How long were you with her?" Hermione asked curiously, she'd already offered to research what she could about the veil, and why he was stuck in his anamagus form.

Sirius frowned, "Too long."

* * *

Sirius Black was no stranger to bad dreams. It was one of those things that was probably a given when you've spent 12 years of your life in the company of dementors.

They stole happy memories, and so Sirius had made it a point to lock his so far away in his mind that he wasn't even fully convinced that he could bring them back at will. Memories were all that he had, and one of the only reasons that he hadn't given fully into the madness of Azkaban.

Even worse, Dementors made you relive your worst memories. He'd relieved Grimmauld place with his parents, hearing the news of Lily and James's deaths, discovering Peter Pettigrew had betrayed them. Over and over, night after night, these memories haunted his dreams, and there were times where Sirius hadn't been sure if he was asleep or if he was awake.

The dreams had abated when he'd slept as a dog, and dissipated completely when he'd slept in Kate's bed, but now, his first night fully human in years, they came back with a vengeance. And now, they were something else entirely.

_All around him was white. It was a strange sort of limbo, with the blinding brightness in every direction, and it gave him the oddest sense of déjà vu. __**He had been here before.**_

_He tried to move forward, but his movements were slow, sluggish, and his legs felt like they weighed a ton each. Progress was slow, but then again, there was nowhere to go. _

_After what seemed like hours, though was probably only several minutes of trudging through the blinding white of his surroundings, he froze. Someone, or something was breathing on his neck. _

_He spun around. Nothing. There was no one there, only white. _

_Shaking his head, he turned back in his original destination, and continued on. Again, he felt a breeze on his neck, breathing. He spun again, but once again there was nothing there. _

_But there was the third time._

_A figure, shadowy, translucent and tall was in front of him, face shadowed by a hood. It was opaque, vaporous, and Sirius could see white through the strange shadowy creature. _

_It lifted its arms, and engulfed him in the darkness. _

He woke up screaming.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **All canon characters, scenery and plot references are the property of J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from this story in any way.

**Rating**: T for language

**Summary: ** When Kate Lawrence found out she was a witch, she expected the strange in the unusual. But she never really expected her 30 year old grandmother to appear at her door, and she certainly never expected her dog to turn out to be an escaped convict. Magic…you can't live with it, but you certainly can't live without it.

**Author's Note:** Excitement of the day: I was at a coffee shop for a work meeting today, and a search and rescue team came in with a dog to find a guy for a training exercise. The dog was a super adorable German Shepard, and reaffirmed just how intelligent dogs can be. It's pretty brilliant.

* * *

_She left a week to roam,  
Your protector's coming home,  
Keep your secrets with you, girl,  
Safe from the outside world.  
_**Your Protector- Fleet Foxes**

* * *

**Seven**

True to form, Sirius Black appeared at her door the next day as well. Kate spied him walking casually up the path to the back door, with hands stuffed in his pockets. He looked confident, brave, but at the same time, a little tense.

Kate grimaced, looking down at her pajama pants and t-shirt, despite the fact that it was midafternoon on a Sunday. She'd stayed up late last night talking to Loren. The two girls had become fast friends, sharing a sense of humor as well as a gene pool.

Kate had brought down one of the boxes from the attic, and the two had shared memories of Conner La Croix, both eagerly absorbing any information they could about the man that they'd both hardly gotten a chance to know.

Consequently, Kate was exhausted, had a lie in, and was still in her pajamas. Sirius Black, as a dog, had seen her in far worse of a state, but it somehow seemed different, now that he was a man. She felt inexplicably self-conscious, and for some strange reason, cared what he thought about her.

He knew everything about her, how could he not, spending so much time with her, when she'd unwittingly spilled secrets, and private thoughts with her dog. Now, she wasn't ready to face him, especially not in her pajamas. So instead, she ducked down behind her kitchen counter, and sat on the floor.

"Kate?" She heard him ask, knocking on the back door. "I know you're home."

Kate winced, but stayed hidden.

"Come on Kate, please, let me explain myself," Sirius said. There was the creek of him leaning against the wooden rail near the door.

Kate chewed on her lip, waiting with baited breath. When had she become such a chicken? She wasn't acting like a Gryffindor at all!

There was a sigh, and after a minute, a soft _pop_, and Kate let out a relieved breath, he'd given up, maybe even for good, but she made a point to dress cute tomorrow, just in case.

She straightened up, and was surprised to hear voices. Familiar voices. One was Sirius's and the other was Thom. _Oh dear lord, this wasn't going to be good_, especially if the man was anything at all like her dog had been.

"Who the hell are you?" Thom's voice was bold, harsh. Kate peeked out the window, to see the boys sizing each other's up. Sirius was a head taller than Thom, and despite being painfully skinny, looked as though he could take her ex in a fight. Thom was slim and wiry, and had always looked more bookish than athletic. Now, standing next to an escaped convict, he looked positively hopeless.

To Kate's surprise, Sirius smirked, looking Thom over with appraising eyes. "You're Thom yeah? Kate's ex?"

"Yeah, who're you?" Thom asked again, shrinking a little under the intensity of Sirius's gaze.

"I'm Sirius Black, Kate's boyfriend," He offered the man a scarred hand. "I though she told you to leave her the hell alone?" He asked casually.

"S-Sirius Black?" Thom had worked for the daily prophet for the last 10 years; he knew _exactly _who Sirius Black was.

"Perhaps you've heard of me?" Sirius asked sweetly, "Though maybe not, I _was in Azkaban _for about…12 years?" He pulled back the hand that Thom had never accepted with a shrug.

"What the hell is Kate dating you for?" Thom growled, voice harsh, as he gripped his wand.

"She's got good tastes?" Sirius offered with a cocky smirk. "Though, she's made it very clear that she doesn't want you here. And yet, you keep on showing up, so do us all a favor, and go the hell away, huh?"

"You can't…you can't tell me what to do!" Thom scoffed, though he looked terrified.

"You're too late, she's moved on," Sirius raised his own wand, "Leave. Now."

Thom hesitated for a minute, before he shook his head incredulously, and left. "Good choice," Sirius muttered, and turned back to the house. His eyes went directly to Kate, at the window.

Chewing nervously on her lip, Kate took deep breaths and made her way to the back door. She shot another hopeless glance down at her pajamas before fixing her gaze on Sirius, still on the porch, his wand drawn. He lowered it and shot her an apologetic smile.

"You were in Azkaban for 12 years?" She asked softly. All logical points of conversation seemingly went out the window, and it was all she could think to say.

"Yeah," Sirius looked surprised to see her. "I _was _actually innocent though," He added.

"I know," Kate replied grimly, "I was at your arraignment hearing in the wizgmanot, I'm a barrister with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," She explained, unsure if she ever spoke to Ozzie about her job. Everything else? Yes, her job….maybe not, other than to rant about her coworkers.

Sirius gave a surprised laugh, "Are you really?" He asked, with a raised brow, "I never knew that."

"Your Godson cares a lot about you," Kate added, thinking of the way that Harry Potter, savior of the wizarding world had stood up to speak on behalf of the man standing in front of her. "Even though he thought you were dead, he made a point of making sure your name was cleared." She noted. "That's nice."

Sirius looked surprised, "Yeah, that sounds like something Harry would do." He shook his head, "It's what his dad would have done anyway."

"So…that's nearly 13 years in a cage, isn't it?" Kate bit her lip, looking through the screen at the man standing in front of her. "From Azkaban to the muggle shelter?" She looked the man over again, wondering how he was _sane. _Then again, maybe he wasn't, he did pretend to be her dog for a year.

"Yeah," he pushed a hand through his hair, and winced when it tangled in his black locks.

"You're sort of a hypocrite you know?" She added conversely, "Scaring off a man for not leaving me alone."

Sirius took a breath, "I know, I just… wanted to tell you how sorry I am, to your face, not your back door." He told her. "If you really want me to leave after that….then you'll never see me again."

Kate took a breath, "I'm not saying I'm even close to ready to forgive you, but….perhaps you could come in for some tea, for me to thank you for… Scaring off Thom." She considered a minute, cracking open the door. "Actually, let's make that a firewhiskey, do you like firewhiskey?"

Sirius laughed, "Yeah, I like firewhiskey."

* * *

"Hey love," Loren said softly, sitting down cross-legged in front of the tombstone of Rickey La Croix. It probably looked strange, she didn't care.

"So I met Lettie, she's…. well she's probably a bit too much like me, at least in the stubbornness department." She said softly. "I bet you had fun raising her." She smiled wryly. "…And I met Conner's daughter," She shot a look over hat her son's grave. "She's brilliant, even if neither of you knew her."

She sighed, squeezing her eyes shut. "I miss you; sorry we never got a chance to…."

She winced, unsure of how to finish that thought. They'd never gotten a chance to do half the things they'd planned or talked about. It struck her again how wholly unfair this was, and she hastily brushed away a tear.

"Damn, how do ghosts work?" She wondered aloud, "I know Hogwarts had dozens of them, but I never looked into how they stuck around, hasn't it something to do with an untimely death? Or is it more than that?" She sighed. "Though, as much as I'd love to talk to you, seeing you as a ghost would probably freak me out." She muttered.

"Let's see… all things considered, I'm doing alright," She told the stone surely. "I'm still a ward of the government; we apparently left our children all of our money…" She said with a laugh. "So I'll have to get a job, I wonder if the department of mysteries would take me back…as long it it's nothing to do with the veil." She added with a shudder.

"Oh, I've been having really strange dreams," She continued, "It's gotten to be most nights now, but there's all this white and these shadowy figures, and they're coming after me…they're really rather disconcerting," She shivered again. "I wonder if it has something to do with the veil….but there's really no one I can ask, is there?"

"I suppose that's one of the fringe benefits of being the only person to ever have returned….though when I brought this up, the unspeakables got kind of shifty….more so than usual, which is saying something." She frowned, and then shook her head. "Anyway, I'm having dinner with Kate tonight, she really is lovely Conner, you should be proud." She shot another look to Conner's grave.

"I'll see you both soon."

* * *

The sun was setting. They were sitting together on the back porch, enjoying the crisp fall air, both clutching a tumbler filled with firewhiskey, as they did their best _not _to look at each other. Anywhere else was fair game, the field, the pond, the pink that was beginning to light the sky as the sun fell behind the trees in the distance, but not each other.

It was a beautiful night, but neither of them could fully appreciate it, the tension in the air thick.

"I… honestly don't know why I stayed," Sirius spoke after what seemed like an eternity. "When I woke up, I was just so desperate to get back to Harry; I would have taken any means of escape." He grimaced. "I think….for a long time; I haven't had anywhere safe that wasn't a prison that I actually _chose_." He took a breath. "After the 12 years in Azkaban…I spent another on the run, and then there was another as a prisoner at my parents' house…where…" He shook his head darkly.

"Your house was the first place that I've been in a long time that felt safe, that felt like home, and that I chose." He said, looking back at the house. "And it got harder and harder to leave. Part of me thinks that I could have been content staying here for the rest of my life."

"But the other part?" Kate played with the lip of her cup, still not willing to meet Sirius's gaze, despite the fact that his was now focused on her.

"The other part of me knows that I couldn't hide forever," He sighed. "Even if it would have been easier."

Kate winced, "Can't say I'm a stranger from hiding from my problems." She said slowly, "Though… you probably know that." She winced.

"I'm sorry," Sirius said, taking a long drink from his whiskey, "I never meant to deceive you, I was stuck, and had no idea how much time had passed, and when you found me at the shelter….I was honestly surprised, it was the last place I'd expected to meet a witch." He looked as though he wanted to make a joke, but stopped himself.

"I er… honestly no idea what was going on in the wizarding world… If we were still at war, if Harry was still alive….and by the time you took me in and I found all this out….so much time had passed that…."

"He thought that you were dead," Kate realized.

"The kid doesn't have much in the way of family figures, his fiancée's family really stepped in there, and I didn't quite know how everyone would take it seeing a ghost," He frowned, "I was hiding from my problems, because with you…even as a dog, I was honestly happy."

Kate looked up to meet his gaze finally, and took a deep breath, "Well, you can't fault me for being so awesome."

Sirius laughed, and then, grew serious again, "It was nice…" He told her softly, "To be loved so unconditionally, even if it was all a lie."

Kate sighed dramatically, "Alright, fine."

"What?" Sirius quirked an eyebrow at her.

"It's still going to take me some time to get over…but maybe… I mean…" She flushed, "We could be friends?"

"I'd like that," Sirius grinned.

* * *

The sun had gone down completely at some point and they were sitting in silence, both pleasantly plied with alcohol, and surprisingly content. They'd done this quite a bit when Ozzie was a dog, sitting together on the back porch, and it was surprisingly easy to fall back into. An idea occurred to Kate rather suddenly. "Transfiguration." She said, and the cursed.

The look on Sirius's face was amused, and he cocked an eyebrow to her in response. "Pardon?"

"I was fretting about having this conversation in my pajamas. I'm a bloody witch." She muttered, feeling rather ridiculous.

Sirius chuckled, "I don't know," He shrugged, raising an eyebrow, "You wear those pajama's well," He flashed a confident grin.

"Oh no way, nu uh, my dog is _not_ going to flirt with me!" Kate exclaimed, face heating up.

"_Your_ dog huh?" Sirius's grin widened. "Didn't know I was a kept man."

"I can see why your anamagus form _is a dog_, seeing how much you act like one as a person." She said snarkily.

"Now I think _you're_ flirting with me," Sirius waggled his eyebrows at her.

There was a pop, and Loren raced up the path to the house, looking worried, "Oh shit," Kate belatedly remembered her dinner plans with the woman, she stood, Sirius did too, looking between her and the other woman curiously.

"You're okay?" Loren looked her over for any sign of injury, "When you didn't show up to the leaky I got worried."

"I'm so sorry Loren," Kate said with a wince, and a glance to Sirius, "I completely forgot about our plans," She bit her lip nervously. "I've had a couple of unexpected visitors."

"Ah," Sirius ruffled the back of his hair, "That'd be my fault," He said with an apologetic smile, and then shot Kate a grin, "I am pretty distracting, aren't I?"

"Now you're just being ridiculous." She rolled her eyes, and glanced to Loren, who was watching Sirius, a confused look on her face.

"I know you." She said, eyes narrowing. "How do I know you?"

Sirius shrugged, "I was quite popular with the Daily prophet a few years ago," He said unabashedly, "Sorry if I kept you from plans with….your sister?" He glanced to Kate curiously.

Kate snorted, "Not remotely."

"No, that's not it," Loren was frowning, "I'm not a really up to snuff with current events." She glanced to Kate who was rubbing her temples, trying to figure out how to introduce her dog and her grandmother in the most non-dramatic way.

Sirius raised a curious eyebrow to the witch ahead of him, "How can you not be up on current events?" He asked curiously, wondering how she'd escaped the war and his face being broadcast on every news media, both muggle and wizard.

"It's a long story," Loren said awkwardly, "I sort of went missing for 60 years, and traveled forward in time."

"Sirius Black, meet my grandmother, Loren LaCroix, Lo, this is Sirius…my…er…friend," She gestured between the too.

Sirius's eyebrows raised, "Your grandmother?" He repeated, and then laughed, "Merlin, you're life has certainly been interesting lately," He shook his head.

"Which brings me back to the point of wondering just how I know you-" Loren was frowning, "Seeing as I just walked out of the Ministry's Veil of death a month ago."

Sirius's smile faded immediately. He took a sharp breath and then downed the rest of his firewhiskey. "I think perhaps…that we've got quite a bit more in common than we realize."


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **All canon characters, scenery and plot references are the property of J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from this story in any way.

**Rating**: T for language

**Summary: ** It's like the lion, the witch and the wardrobe…except opposite….The witch is a griffindor… And the wardrobe as actually a portal that may or may not lead to the afterlife. So…alright, it's nothing like the lion the witch and the wardrobe. Tune in next week for a better analogy!

**Author's Note:** I love weekends. I love warm weather. I love melting snow. I love you all for reading.

* * *

_Every night my dream's the same,  
Same old city with a different name,  
Men are coming to take me away,  
I don't know why, but I know I can't stay._

**Keep the Car Running-**The Arcade Fire

* * *

**Eight**

It wasn't the first time that Kate felt so left out of a conversation, and she firmly doubted that it would be the last. Still, when she had introduced her former dog and her long-lost grandmother, the last thing that she'd expected was to discover they were two of the only people in known history to have ever stepped out of the veil.

Loren had studied it in depth during her time as an unspeakable; she had entered it on a fruitless quest to understand the intricacies of the veil. Sirius had been forced through the veil during a duel that went wrong with his cousin while attempting to rescue his godson.

Neither of them remembered their time beyond the veil (however short or long it had been), and they both had been presumed dead. But Loren was convinced that something _had to have happened._ People didn't just go missing for 60 years. And she had had a feeling that she had met Sirius before. So maybe, just maybe, they'd met inside the veil.

Kate didn't know much at all about the department of mysteries. She remembered it mentioned briefly in her History of magic class, and again, during her internship at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but it never had seemed relevant to her line of work. As a death sentence, the veil was antiquated, and they'd since moved on to the dementors' kiss. But now, she wished she'd paid better attention.

Sirius didn't seem to know much about it either, but he had seen it, and, coming from a pure-blooded magical family, he knew quite a bit about its history simply by what had been engrained in him as a child.

Still, there was a part of Kate that felt painfully excluded. She wasn't even sure why it bothered her. She was pleased that Loren and Sirius got along, but there was something about it, something about their fast friendship that, to be frank, annoyed the hell out of her.

It wasn't as if she had any sort of claim over either of them, but if not for her, they'd never had (re?) connected in the first place. They wouldn't be sitting her in the living room together.

Hang on. Was she _jealous _over her gran and her dog? A low chuckle escaped her lips, calling both Loren and Sirius's attention to her. She blushed.

"Alright Katie?" Sirius asked, amusement in his eyes as he spoke.

"Sure, yeah, just thinking how ridiculous this all is," She said stupidly. "Can I get either of you more tea?" She asked, standing up quickly. She hardly waited for an answer before she disappeared into the kitchen.

Loren's gaze followed her, bemused. But she only waited about three seconds before rounding on Sirius. "So…." She flashed a devious grin to the man, "What exactly _is _going on with you and my granddaughter."

Sirius, who was mid-sip of his firewhiskey, choked and sputtered. "What?"

"Don't play coy with _me _Sirius Black, I've seen the looks that you've _oh so discreetly _been shooting each other when you think no one's looking." She grinned. "I may have been born a century ago, but I'm not an idiot, and the world hasn't changed _that _much."

"There's nothing going on Loren," Sirius said, adding an eye roll for good measure "Sure, She's fun to tease, but she's still put out at me for….you know…" He waved a hand absently in the air, "Pretending to be her dog?"

Loren laughed, leaning back on her chair, "She wouldn't be half as unforgiving if you weren't quite so attractive, I reckon," She grinned. "But you fancy her?"

Sirius snorted, "Even if I did, I'm not exactly the boyfriend, committed relationship, or hell, even reliable type. And it'd hardly be the type of thing I'd talk to you about, even if you weren't her grandmother." He added, crossing his arms and quirking an eyebrow at the woman.

"I think you're far more domestic than you let on," Loren smirked deviously, "You did after all; sleep in her bed for half a year."

"Were you, by any chance, in Slytherin?" Sirius asked with thin smile and a shake of his head.

"Gryffindor actually," Loren laughed, "But I'm of the mind that everyone carries the trait of each of the houses to some extent." She shrugged, casually glancing up when Kate stepped into the room, clutching a large mug of tea in her hands.

"So what does this all mean?" Kate asked, oblivious to their previous topic of conversation. She settled back into the couch, nearly spilling her tea, "People are suddenly leaving the veil? Or is it something that's just specific to the two of you?"

"It'd sure as hell be helpful if we could remember a god damn thing," Sirius muttered darkly. "It feels like no time at all has passed."

"Tell me about it," Loren frowned, leaning back into her chair, and crossing her legs beneath her. "We'll probably have to work with the ministry," She added, turning back to Sirius, "maybe we can go in tomorrow?"

He sighed, pushing a hand up into his hair, "I was really afraid that you were going to say that."

* * *

Head unspeakable Drew was not having a very good day. There had been an incident with the space room and a giant brain earlier, which had hospitalized two of his staff, and resulted in a rather large pile of paperwork that he needed to finish by the end of the day.

He was over worked, under paid, and in desperate need of an assistant. His department was supposed to be top notch, the cream of the cream, but lately, it seemed to him that he was surrounded by idiots. And it was giving him a headache.

More than that, they were still no closer to discovering the recent increase in veil activity, which, not only had given off two significant high energy readings (one of which had brought Mrs. LaCroix to them), there had been smaller bouts of energy readings, nearly every night since.

His superiors were starting to get impatient with their questions, and he had no answers to give them. He had worked in the department of mysteries for nearly 30 years now, and been the head of the department for the last 15, and nothing like this had ever happened before.

There was no apparent cause for the activity, no logical reasoning, and he was still no closer to understanding the veil of death than they were 100 years ago. In fact, everything they _did _know about the veil had been disproven within the last few months.

_Fact: No one comes back through the veil. _That was clearly disproved by the presence of Loren LaCroix, and, whoever he suspected had come through the months before, on Luis Oswin's shift. Of course, he had no proof; he suspected that Oswin had been sleeping on the job, and lied to cover his arse.

_Fact: The runes on the face of the veil were ornamental_. This too, had been disproven by their nightly habit of turning a vibrant shade of blue the accompanied the increase of wind flapping the pale white curtain that hung in the arch.

_Fact: Entry of the veil of death by any person inevitably leads to their death._ This fact too, had been disproven by Mrs. LaCroix, a _very alive_ Mrs. LaCroix. Head unspeakable Drew was starting to curse his bad luck that she'd simply walked out of the veil in the first place. He should have retired last year.

There were dozens of other speculations about the veil that had been disproven as well, and Les Drew was worried. Thousands of criminals had been executed thorough the veil in its history: Including some of the darkest witches and wizards known throughout history. If, in fact, people were coming back through the veil, who would be next? Would they have another Voldemort on their hands? It was just another question that he couldn't answer.

Les had always prided himself on his problem solving capabilities, he was smart, he'd gotten O's on 9 NEWTS, but on his first day of work, his boss had given him one basic principal of palpable advice. "_Get used to not knowing things." _

He had thought the man was joking, that it was a hazing prank. Weren't they in the business of _solving puzzles?_ Weren't they in the business of understanding life's great mysteries? Oh how wrong he'd been.

A knocking on the door startled him from his musings, and he looked down grimly at the paperwork that he really should be doing, rubbing his temples. "Enter." He barked, not looking up as the door opened and shut. A man cleared his throat, and Les did look up. And then he froze.

The Minister of Magic was standing in his office.

Les had been the Head Unspeakable through _five _Ministers, and never, not once, had they ever stood in his office. He'd been summoned, once, to Cornelius Fudge's office after the fiasco with Death Eaters and prophesies a few years prior, in an attempt to explain just how 6 teenagers were able to break in. His visit, thankfully (perhaps a poor choice of words), had been overshadowed by the news of You-Know-Who's return.

But, never had a Minister of Magic stood in his office. As long as Les made regular reports to his supervisors, and kept a clean docket, he'd always been left to run his own ship, without much supervision. But now, Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt was standing in his office looking completely unfazed by where he was, or by the notion that most upper ministry officials were terrified of this department.

"S-sir!" Les sprang to his feet, his reaction delayed and awkward, and subsequently ruining his reputation of being unflappable to the most important man in the ministry.

"Unspeakable Drew," The Minister of Magic nodded, offering him a hand. "I am Kingsley Shacklebolt."

"I-I know who you are sir," Les said, surprised. The minister of magic was in his office, shaking his hand, the minister of magic actually _knew _who Les was. It was disconcerting at best.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, you and your people do some good work down here, I read your reports," Minister Shacklebolt unceremoniously sat down in one of the leather chairs ahead of Les's desk. Les mirrored the man's actions, falling into his own chair.

"Thank you Sir," Les said, unequivocally past the point of unflappable, and now somewhere close to flabbergasted. The Minister of Magic _read_ his reports?

"I've been particularly interested in the increased activity surrounding the Veil of Death," Minister Shacklebolt straightened his robes, and crossed on leg on his knee. "But it's come to my attention that you may not have all the relevant information regarding the matter." He continued on casually.

Les blinked, "Sir?"

"Are you aware that Sirius Black emerged from the veil as well? Several months prior to Mrs. LaCroix, in fact." Minister Shacklebolt said calmly, as if he was discussing the weather, or the latest Quidditch scores. "I've seen him myself."

Flabbergasted went out the window as well, and Les was now in a state of panicked disbelief. "S-Sirius Black, the convict that escape Azkaban?"

"He was, as it turns out, innocent of that crime and since acquitted," Minister Shacklebolt said patiently, folding his hands in front of him.

"Oh." It was all Les could manage given the circumstances.

"Indeed," The minister agreed, "I would think perhaps there is a connection of some sort here, and I would be very interested to find out just what it is."

* * *

A patronus surprised Kate from where she was dozing on the couch. Loren and Sirius were still discussing the intricacies of their shared histories, and although it was all quite interesting, Kate had stayed up quite late the day before, and she had to work in the morning. She was half convinced she was dreaming when a silvery stag danced into the room and stopped just short of the coffee table.

Kate startled to a sitting position, and was even more surprised, when the stag opened its mouth to speak.

"Sirius Orion Black, you bloody well get your arse back here, or I swear to merlin, I'll hex you straight into next week. Stop bloody wandering off, or at least have the decency to leave a bloody note." The stag said, voice male and annoyed. The stag gave a dramatic bow of it's antlers, before disappearing.

Sirius laughed, "Whoops." He said, rubbing the nape of his neck sheepishly.

"Idiot," Kate told him with a smirk, glad that she wasn't the only person to yell at him. "You were dead for two years, and you don't think to leave a note every time you pop off?"

"Well to be fair, common trends were against you opening your door to talk to me, so I wasn't actually planning on being here for…" He glanced to his watch. "Merlin…. Nearly 12 hours." He looked sheepish. "And you've got to work tomorrow, haven't you?" He stood up, glancing to Loren, who stood too. "You should have said something."

Kate shrugged, standing up and yawning, "I hadn't noticed the time," She said, gathering cups and mugs to deposit in the kitchen. "Besides, I like the company," she added, with a smile.

Sirius planted a kiss on her cheek, and then nodded to Loren, "I'll stop by tomorrow then?" He asked, "I'll owl you in the morning Loren."

"Sounds good to me," Loren nodded, grabbing cups to help Kate clean up.

"Night ladies," Sirius nodded and disappeared with a pop.

"I best be leaving too," Loren followed her granddaughter into the kitchen, setting the cups gingerly on the counter.

"You're welcome to crash here if you want," Kate offered lightly, "I know you're staying at the Leaky, but I've got a couch and a guest bedroom that don't get that much use." She bit her lip. "I mean, I understand completely if you don't…."

"No, that'd be brilliant actually," Loren was grinning, "But I wouldn't want to put you out…"

"It's no bother really," Kate smiled warmly at the woman, "You're family."

* * *

Despite how tired she'd been earlier, Kate couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned for nearly an hour before she ventured down to the kitchen for some tea. The bed in the guest room hadn't been made, and so Loren had opted to sleep on the couch tonight. Kate could barely make out her sleeping form covered with blankets in the dark, but tiptoed past to the kitchen.

Safely inside, she turned on the light above the sink and put the kettle on, contemplating the details of the past week, the past year. No wonder she couldn't sleep. She'd always been the type to over think things as it was, and now she certainly had quite a bit to think on.

With a sigh, she cradled the cup of tea in her hands, wondering if she could sneak a book from one of the shelves in the living room without waking Loren. She squinted into the dimly lit room, and froze.

At first she thought it was shadows, light playing tricks on her, but that thought was quickly banished from her head. Something was in the room, and her wand was upstairs on the end table next to her bed.

It was a figure, a strange and translucent figure, shadowed in black and nearly as tall as the ceiling. And it was standing in front of Loren's sleeping form.

The cup tumbled from her hand, shattering on the floor below her, and the shadow figure startled, turned, and then charged straight for her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **All canon characters, scenery and plot references are the property of J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from this story in any way.

**Rating**: T for language

**Summary: ** Kate and Ozzie, Kate and Sirius, Kate and Loren, all somehow connected, but how? Why? When? Who? What? Where? These are the questions that haunt us, much like the ghost-like things that have suddenly made an appearance

**Author's Note:** Yes, I really have fun writing the summaries. I think it dates back to my stint in journalism, and is me rebelling from traditional lead writing. As always, thanks so much for reading guys! You are awesome!

* * *

_The only place we had to meet was night,  
While the sun he sleeps in shadows we can hide  
On the mountainside we spent our time together  
But it is gone, when morning comes  
_**Wolf and I – **Oh land

* * *

**Nine **

Despite the fact that he'd gotten an immeasurably large amount of them in his life, Sirius hated scoldings. Coming from his own mother, they had been brutal. From his surrogate mother…well… he was loath to ever disappoint Dorea Potter. Coming from Molly Weasley, they were intolerable and annoying. Coming from Harry? That was something else entirely.

Harry was family, blood, the closest thing that Sirius would probably ever have to a son, and he owed it to James and Lily to take care of the boy, no matter how much he loved him on his own merit. Sirius had been cheated out of watching Harry grow up, and now, the lecture from the man that his godson had become wasn't something Sirius was looking forward to.

Sirius knew that he wasn't a very good role model, He was crass, unreliable and irreparably damaged, but that didn't stop him from trying. All that he could do was try.

Number 12 Grimmauld Place held little but bad memories for Sirius. Memories of his parents, his brother, his cousins. There wasn't much good there, at least not for him. Why he'd stupidly offered it up to the order, years ago, he'd never know, but lately something had changed, and now, he hardly recognized the house he'd grown up in.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had all since moved in, and had worked wonders on the place. Hermione Granger had made it a personal project of hers to de-curse, repaint, and redecorate the house, and as Harry and Ron were frequent to say, "Once Hermione sets her mind to something, it's a sure thing."

The brilliant witch had even managed to get the hysterical portrait of his mother down from the front hall (provided she'd taken out the whole wall), and now, returning to the house still felt strange to him. He felt a little like a trespasser on the younger generation's established routines and the lives that they had established within his ancestral home.

"Sorry," He muttered apologetically, as he entered the study where Harry and his friends were waiting with scowls plastered on their faces. "I wasn't expecting to be gone for so long."

"Where the hell were you anyway?" Harry demanded, cross. Sirius winced at the boy's tone. But then again, he owed him an explanation. And an explanation he gave them, at least a cliff-notes version of it. He'd met someone else who'd left the veil, he'd lived with a witch when trapped in his dog form, and somehow they were all oddly interconnected.

"You mean to tell me," Hermione said skeptically as soon as he finished his story. "That she's still talking to you despite the fact that you lied to her and pretended to be her _dog?_"

"Took her some time to warm back up to me," Sirius grinned, "But what can I say—I'm irresistible." He smirked, "Actually, you'd probably like her Hermione, her book collection rivals the Black family library," He jerked his head to the shelves around him, "And I mean it's not as if—"

He froze, interrupted by a silvery sparrow fluttering into the room, landing on the back of his chair. "Sirius!" It was Loren's voice, tense and desperate. The sparrow hopped nervously. "Oh God Sirius, She's just collapsed…" Her voice grew distant for a minute, "Kate…come on Katie, look at me," The sparrow flapped its wings nervously. "Sirius, please, I don't know what's happened." The Sparrow vanished.

Sirius was on his feet in seconds, face paling and wand in his hands. "I've got to go."

"Sirius! Wait, what's—" But he was already gone.

* * *

When Kate opened her eyes, her head was pounding, and she immediately had to shut them again against the light. Bright, it was too bright. Everything was too, too bright, and she really wished that her head would stop feeling as though a herd of hippogriffs had taken up tap dancing inside of it.

Hushed voices were coming from somewhere in the room, and she strained to hear them, only succeeding to make the pounding in her head more intense. With a groan, she opened her eyes again, squinting to make out her living room. She was on her couch, and she wished that someone would dim the bloody light.

"Kate?" A voice asked. Loren.

"Hullo," She responded, squinting to find her grandmother in the room. Loren was stepping towards her, worry etched into her smooth features, Sirius was on her heels. "What happened?" She asked, trying to orient herself and feeling dizzy.

"We were hoping you could tell us, kitten," Sirius knelt down near her head, "Are you alright?"

"Yes," She said, glancing to Loren, who was hovering nearby. She tried to sit up and winced at the ache in her head.

"Liar," Sirius smirked, reaching up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"My head hurts," She admitted, "Loren, there's pain potion in the cupboard above the sink?"

"On it," Loren sprang towards the kitchen, glad to help in some way.

"Didn't you leave?" Kate asked Sirius dubiously, studying the man's face. He looked worried too.

Sirius let out a huff, "I did, but I came back, Loren sent me a patronus."

Kate scoffed, trying to sit up again, "You kids and your stupid advanced magic. Talking Patronus' and all that." She muttered.

"You've never produced a patronus?" Sirius helped to pull her up carefully.

"Not a corporal one," She muttered, "It wasn't exactly NEWT material," She added defensively. "And I've never really faced down dementors."

Sirius chucked, "Perhaps your memory wasn't happy enough," He tucked a pillow behind her back so she could sit better. "We can work on that." He flashed a grin, and Kate blinked, head pounding too much to determine whether or not he was flirting with her.

"Here," Loren said as she returned, passing her granddaughter a vial of the retrieved pain potion. Kate uncorked the stopper with her teeth and downed it in one gulp, wincing at the taste. "Do you have any idea what happened?" Loren prompted, still looking concerned.

Kate sighed relief as the potion took effect, and then wracked her memory for what had happened earlier. It came back to her in a flash, the kitchen, the shadow above Loren, everything.

"Loren!" Kate's eyes went to the girl, "Are you okay?"

Loren looked incredulous, "Am _I okay?"_ She repeated stupidly. "Am I okay?!" She said again, "You were the one screaming on the bloody floor!" She said shakily. Sirius set a gentle hand on her arm, and Loren took a shaky breath. "Godric, don't scare me like that ever again Katie." Loren said, her voice shaking.

Kate winced, "Sorry…" She said softly, looking between Loren and Sirius, "I came down to the kitchen to make tea, and there was….this shadowy thing standing near the couch, standing near you," She explained, "I dropped my tea cup...and I think it came at me." It was all she could remember.

Both Loren and Sirius blinked back their surprise, "A shadowy thing?" Sirius asked urgently, "Was it hooded, remarkably tall, sort of opaque?"

Both Loren and Kate's eyes were on him instantly. "Yes." Kate nodded.

"Mother of Merlin," Sirius sat down heavily on the floor from where he was still kneeling next to the couch. "I've been having dreams about those things since I left the veil."

"M-me too," Loren's eyes were wide, and her eyes were darting between Kate and Sirius. "Are you saying they're real?"

"Sure as hell looked real to me," Kate winced, looking between them.

"Bloody hell, I think we're going to need some help." Sirius sighed.

* * *

Sirius didn't return to number 12 Grimmauld Place until the next morning, opting for crashing on the unmade spare bed at Kate's house after a hastily scribbled owl to his godson. Even so, he couldn't keep the scowl on his face. He'd hardly slept that night, none of them had, Loren and Sirius were reluctant to invite in the shadow-creatures from their dreams; The Shadow creatures that had hurt Kate.

When he had arrived at the farmhouse, he'd found Loren cradling Kate's head on the floor of the kitchen, and there was blood everywhere. Kate had shattered a cup on the ground when she'd collapsed, and fell directly on it. The result hadn't been pretty, and even now, Sirius winced at the memory.

There were few times in his life that Sirius ever remembered being terrified, he was a Gryffindor after all, but last night had been one of them. And there was a large part of him that knew that if Loren hadn't been trained so well in healing from her time as an unspeakable, Kate would be dead.

"Is everything okay with your friend?" Hermione asked thoughtfully, when Sirius found her and Ron in the kitchen. Harry, he knew, was over at Remus and Tonks's house babysitting Teddy so that they could run errands, and to catch some time with his godson.

"Yeah," Sirius nodded, making his way over to the coffee pot on the counter and pouring himself a generous cup. "Listen," He turned back to them, "Hermione, I could use your help with something." He shot the girl an award winning grin.

"Me?" The girl asked through a raised eyebrow. She wasn't fooled by the look on his face for a second.

"Yeah, I could use your help on a project," Sirius said casually, ignoring the look of suspicion that crossed the younger woman's face. "A _secret _project." He added with a glance to Ron. The suspicion on Hermione's face grew tenfold. "It involves research?" He said hopefully.

Ron looked between them astonished. "Since when have you been interested in research?" He snorted to Sirius.

"I'm not, that's why I'm asking Hermione," Sirius added casually, leaning back against the wall behind him. "Sorry love, but when someone says _research_, the first thing that comes to mind is "Hermione Granger.""

"As it should," Ron smirked, earning an elbow in the ribs from his girlfriend. "Ouch! Good Godric woman." He groaned.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're up to no good?" Hermione's eyes were narrowed in on Sirius.

"Because," Sirius smirked, "I undoubtedly am."

* * *

"Katie! Are you home!?" There was a rattling on the deck, and then Clara burst through the door. Kate had hardly moved a muscle, but both Sirius and Hermione had instinctively gone for their wands, but Sirius was just as quick to lower his a second later.

When Sirius had showed up after Kate's work shift with an undetectably enlarged knapsack full of books and Hermione Granger in tow, Kate had been surprised. Kate knew Hermione by reputation, nearly everyone in the wizarding world did, but it surprised her even more when Sirius had openly introduced Kate as "My mistress from my dog days."

Hermione was shortly introduced to Loren, who knew nothing about pop-culture, or Hermione, but knew quite a bit about research herself. They'd quickly caught Hermione up on the events of the last few days, and though she suggested that they should tell Ron and Harry, (both aurors), she eagerly grabbed the nearest book in sight.

Kate ordered takeaway from a local chippy for dinner, fully aware that her living room had been taken over, but enjoying the company regardless. That was, at least, until Clara showed up.

Clara stood frozen in the doorway, eyes darting from Hermione to Loren to Sirius and finally to land on Kate. "I… uh…" she said stupidly. "Who're you?" She looked to the strangers.

"Hi Clara," Kate said calmly, standing up to cross the room to her friend.

"Katie," Clara hissed, "That's Hermione Granger, what is Hermione Granger doing in your living room." Clara's eyes were wide and she kept non-discretely looking to the living room to study the strangers. Sirius was hiding a smirk behind his hand, and Hermione rolled her eyes, exasperated. Loren glanced to Hermione, a bit confused, but shrugged it off.

"Having chips I suppose," Kate deadpanned, pulling her friend to the door and out on to the porch. "Listen…we're sort of in the middle of something."

"Yeah, what the hell have you been up to, anyway? You missed drinks at Morgan's last night and we were starting to get worried," Clara's attention focused on her friend, and she looked Kate over.

"I did?" Kate winced, "Shit, sorry." She had a monthly standing date with her school friends to get together for drinks and gossip, that she'd apparently completely overlooked this month. Though, considering, it really didn't surprise her that she'd forgotten all about it.

"I thought you were doing better," Clara's eyes narrowed, and she glanced to the strangers in the living room. "You haven't gone back to secluding yourself in your house with that beast of yours, have you? Where is he by the way, I'd assumed I'd have been barked to oblivion by now."

Kate took a breath, "Upstairs," she lied, glancing back to the house, she noted Sirius standing by the kitchen window, a glass of water in his hands, watching them carefully. "And I'm hardly secluding myself Clara." She added with a wave of her hand at the house.

"Right, yeah, who are they, anyway?" Clara demanded

"Just some friends," Kate rolled her eyes at Clara's constant meddling.

"Since when are you friends with Hermione Granger?" Clara asked skeptically.

"Why are you so fixated on Hermione Granger?" Kate shot back.

"Because I've known you since we were 11, and I'd _like _to think that we were best friends, but this last year, you sure as hell haven't been acting like it." Clara said pointedly, her voice raising an octave. "I know who all of your friends are, and I've never seen any of them before."

"Clara, just because I'm doing things with other people, doesn't make you any less of my best friend," She replied with a grimace, tone growing defensive, "I'm allowed to have other friends besides you."

"Then why are you lying to me!" Clara exclaimed bitterly. "What's going on Kate? And don't you _dare_ tell me it's nothing, because I know you, and I don't buy that for a second." Her voice grew louder, "You're lying, you aren't acting like yourself, and you're consorting with all manner of strangers, so tell me what the hell is going on!"

Kate took a deep breath, her eyes hardening, "It's nothing." She said slowly.

Clara let out a huff of disbelief, "Unbelievable." She said darkly, shaking her head. "Floo me when you've stopped being insane," She said bitterly. "I miss my best friend." She spun on her heel and dissipated with a pop.

Kate shook her head, eyes fixed on where Clara had disappeared. "Shit."

* * *

Later, Hermione and Loren were still full on research mode, pouring over books and each other's notes, and talking about arithmancy equations and all manner of complexities that seemed to go right over Kate's head.

She'd always been a bright witch, smart, well read, but compared to her grandmother and Hermione? She was wildly out-brained. Sirius seemed to feel the same way, and she watched him flip through the book he was focusing in on with a scowl.

Finally, he shoved the book away, and stretched his arms over his head. "I need some air."

Kate was quick to follow, "Me too," She agreed, shooting a glance to Loren and Hermione, who didn't even seem to hear them. "Want to go for a walk?"

Sirius grinned, "That depends," He stood up, and offered her a hand, pulling her to her feet. "Do I get a treat afterwards?"

"Oh you're hilarious." Kate shrugged on a green military coat from the rack near the door, passing Sirius his leather one, which, not that she'd ever admit it, he looked incredible in. She considered, for a minute, that they'd reached the point that they could joke about Sirius being a dog, completely missing the pointed look and smirk that Loren shot Sirius.

She did see him roll his eyes and stuff his hands in his pocket, before turning towards her and smiling. "Shall we?"

Walking down the dirt driveway that led to Kate's house, Sirius cast a quick warming charm on them, to fight against the cold of the night air. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Sirius spoke.

"You miss him don't you?" He asked, shooting a glance in her direction, "Ozzie, I mean," He added.

Kate frowned, "Yes." She said softly, looking down at the dirt of the road. It was growing dark, and it was cold, but she had no desire to stop walking. "Have you ever had a dog Sirius?"

"No," He shook his head, studying her profile against the dying light.

"It's like…." She sighed, "It's having a constant companion, a best friend, having someone who's genuinely excited to see you every time you walk through the door. It's someone who listens to all of your issues without commenting, and who loves you unconditionally despite them. It's having someone who gets excited about stupid things, like chasing a stick, or running in a field, or food, or going for hikes."

"For all the time that you didn't act like a dog, there were the times that you did," She stopped on the path, turning to look at him. "And no matter what, no matter that you're here, and Ozzie isn't technically gone, I still lost my dog."

"Kate…" Sirius frowned.

"And despite it all, I can't even really be mad, because you've been an amazing friend to me, and if not for everything that happened…" She shook her head, "I wouldn't know _you."_

He took a sharp breath, and then drew her into his arms. "I'm sorry," He murmured into her hair. "I'm so, so sorry."

It surprised her to be honest, Sirius didn't seem like the hugging type, but then again, he was Ozzie, and Ozzie had always been big on cuddling. There was a part of her that couldn't help but notice that she fit well in his arms, that he was tall, and muscular and that he could neatly tuck his chin a top her head. When he spoke, his voice was soft, worried. "Please don't hate me," He said softly.

"I don't…." She whispered, pulling away to study his face. "I couldn't…" Their eyes locked and he brought a hand up to the side of her face, and just for a second the world seemed to slow.

For a second, Kate forgot about everything that had happened, forgot about Loren and the Veil, and black specters, and it was just her, just her and Sirius, and the one undeniable fact that raced through her head: _he was going to kiss her._

"KATE! SIRIUS!" Loren's shout came from the house, "We've found something!" Kate and Sirius sprang apart, Kate's face reddening, though Sirius had a confident smile on his face.

"Great timing, as usual Loren," He muttered, completely unfazed. "Maybe we could continue this conversation some other time?" He asked cheerfully, and Kate couldn't help but laugh.

"Git," Kate she his arm, "We better go and see what they've found."


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **All canon characters, scenery and plot references are the property of J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from this story in any way.

**Rating**: T for language

**Summary: ** Kate Lawrence's life used to be fairly normal, a job, a husband, a good group of friends—now, she has a grandmother as young as she is, a flirtatious man who used to be her dog and a famous war heroine researching in her living room. No one could quite classify her life as normal anymore.

**Author's Note:** I'd like to apologize immensely for not updating sooner. One of my good friends and her boyfriend of three years broke up last week, and I've offered her my second bedroom. As much as I love having her, drinking wine and ranting about non-committal men is not necessarily conducive to good or consistent writing habits.

I'm pet sitting for a friend this week! So that means two dogs and two girls in a very small apartment. It'll be crazy, but awesome, especially considering the weather is finally warm enough for (muddy) hikes in the woods! Happy April, don't be a fool!

* * *

_Even though, you don't know,  
You're reacting, all along.  
What I see, is killing me,  
You won't make it on your own.  
_**Hell of a Season – The black keys**

* * *

**Ten **

"The keeper of time," Hermione intoned, glancing from Sirius to Kate to Loren, and finally back down to her book. It was one of the large and leather tomes that Sirius had brought with him from the Black family Library, which was apparently rather extensive. Kate was itching to see it herself, but for now, took what she could get.

"What?" Sirius questioned dully, wondering if this information was worth interrupting his walk with Kate. It had been a rather interesting walk, in his opinion, and had the potential to grow _much _more interesting towards the end of it, before it had been quite rudely interrupted.

"The keeper of time, also known as Chronus, Saturn, the grim reaper, and Father time—is often depicted as an elderly man in robes, with a time turner or a scythe," Hermione continued, as if reciting from a book, despite the fact that the pages she had in front of her were of a gothically depicted image of 'the keeper of time.'

It was as she had described; a tall and daunting figure with a greying beard and a scythe in one hand and a skull in the other. He was shrouded in a dark cloak, and surrounded by ancient ruins and symbols that Kate vaguely recognized from her ancient ruins class, years prior. Even from where she was viewing it from behind the couch, albeit upside-down, the depiction seemed morbid at best, and she repressed a shiver, remembering the hooded figure from the night before.

"But that doesn't really sound like anything that we've seen, except for the robes," Sirius flopped down on the sofa ahead of Kate, studying the younger, bushy haired woman ahead of him with a frown.

"But no one knows for sure what he really looks like, do they?" Loren asked the duo, nodding to Hermione to continue her description. She was perched at the edge of one of the arm chairs, gripping the arms tightly

"The keeper of time is also responsible for the passing of life and the veil of death," Hermione recited, flipping back a page to read aloud from the text. "The veil of death is a common, albeit unknown theme in most cultures usually associated with death, or passage to the afterlife beyond. Some people see it as a tunnel, others a door, but a version of it exists even in muggle literature and religions." She read, her fingers tracing along with the passage as she spoke, a frown on her face.

She skipped ahead several paragraphs, "Short of the renowned resurrection stone most known by its presence in the fable by _The Tale of the Three brothers, _passage through the veil of death is permanent, despite two known recorded exceptions." Hermione read; Kate and Sirius exchanged a glance, their attention effectively caught.

"The first was by Baron Týr Thatcher, who was born in the early 15th century. Thatcher reported "_Great specters, present in both his dreams and nights, haunting him, his wife, and the castle that they resided in. Thatcher was purportedly driven mad by these spirits, and later went missing, though his wife claimed that the apparitions came and dragged him into the night_.""

"The second recorded case was Alonzo Rivera, a Spanish wizard born in 1822. Rivera went missing in the late 1850's, only to reappear several years later, with no memory of where he'd been. Although medi-wizards and healers suspected obliviation, it was never confirmed." Hermione continued reading. "He recalled a stone archway, and what he described as a black ghost, which plagued his dreams until he was found dead in late 1863."

Hermione glanced up between them, "The book goes on to stress the importance of maintaining the balance between life and death, and that the keeper of time aims to reclaim those that he believes are rightly his." She said, twirling a strand of hair around her index finger nervously. "Those that are near death….and…." She looked up to Sirius, and Loren, "Those that have escaped from the veil."

"Merlin…" Kate took a breath, leaning against the back of the sofa and looking from Sirius to Loren, worried. "That's not very promising is it? Especially since, of the only two people who have stepped through the veil…one ended up dead, the other….missing?"

"So you think we might be in danger then?" Sirius asked carefully, pushing a hand up into his hair.

"It's quite possible," Hermione said with a wince.

"Don't tell Harry," Sirius replied, diligently.

* * *

Although Sirius had put off going into the Ministry of Magic for as long as he possible could, there was no getting around it this time. There was nothing that could be done; no excuses that could be made, especially not once Kingsley Shacklebolt sent him a direct letter requesting his presence, as soon as possible.

Despite the fact that Loren had gotten a similar letter, she was still rather floored at the request, "You know the Minister of Magic?" She'd demanded, thinking back to the pompous and rigid man who'd held the position 60 years ago. That man wouldn't have given her the time of day—let alone taken the time to personally owl her.

"So does Hermione," Sirius defended, eager to shift some of the attention off of himself. He _really _didn't want to return to the Ministry of Magic, and especially not to the Department of Mysteries.

"If we're being honest, I do as well," Kate volunteered as cheerfully as the situation could warrant, "I worked with him when he worked in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement when he was heading up the Auror squad," She explained eagerly, "He's wonderful."

"Now, now Katie, If I didn't know you better, I'd say you had a crush," Sirius teased, though there was a biting quality to his tone.

"Well," Kate smirked, "He _is _rather fit, isn't he Hermione," She prompted, raising an eyebrow to the younger witch.

"Oh…er…um…" Hermione seemed rather flustered, "I suppose he is." She settled on finally.

"Now, now kitten," Sirius grinned at Kate, "You shouldn't tease her so."

"Now, now, mutt," Kate replied, matching his grin, "You're a bloody hypocrite."

It was how the four of them found themselves meeting in front of the floo in the Ministry's Atrium the next morning. Hermione apparently worked in the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures (In an attempt to make the world better for Centaurs, Werewolves, Giants, Merpeople, and House elves), Kate of course, worked in Judicial Department of Magic, (which shared a floor and a department with the DMLE), and Loren and Sirius had a meeting with Kingsley Shacklebolt and Les Drew in the department of ministries.

They made plans to meet for lunch—or at the very least dinner, if the meeting went long, and Kate shared a worried glance with Hermione when they parted with their friends near the elevator bank. "Everything will be fine," Kate voiced aloud, unsure if she was attempting to reassure herself, Hermione, or some combination of the two.

"Yeah, Sirius is too stubborn to get himself killed….again," Hermione said, nervously glancing around the halls for her boyfriend or best friend.

"What did you tell them?" Kate questioned, easily working out what the younger girl was looking for. Despite appearing much more casual and at ease than the younger witch, Kate was equally as nervous, and wasn't sure she'd get much work done today.

"Nothing," Hermione grimaced, "Which is why I'm avoiding them, though as it turns out, that is equally a cause for them to worry, especially since they know I'm doing something with Sirius, and Sirius is spending so much time at your place, which they don't know either." She shook her head.

"I say tell them," Kate shrugged, "Sirius doesn't want to worry them, but clearly they're worried as it is, so there's no use in stressing yourself out more than you already are." She reasoned. "If Sirius has a problem with it, tell him to take it up with me," She added, with a mischievous grin, "He's still trying to make up for pretending to be my dog."

"That's positively devious of you," Hermione couldn't help but laugh, "Are you sure you were a Gryffindor?"

* * *

The ride down to the Department of Mysteries was tense, and in a way, felt to Sirius very much like a death sentence. Loren seemed to feel similarly, and they hardly spoke as the elevator slowly emptied, and they were left alone, a tense silence filling the air.

"So-"

"Isn't it-"

They chose the exact same moment to attempt to break the silence, just out of the elevators on Level 9. Sirius grinned sheepishly, and rubbed the nape of his neck, and Lauren let out a nervous giggle, before waving a hand at him to go on.

"I was going to say," Sirius smiled, "Isn't it fairly stupid of us to be heading towards the veil of death, when a shadowy thing is potentially trying to capture us and force us through it?" He asked, a scowl replacing his smile.

"Yeah, I was thinking a very similar thing," Loren winced, "though I was going to attempt to distract us from that fact," She said with a shake of her head. "I guess we'll have to count ourselves lucky that that…thing seems to only come out at night?"

"That's another thing," Sirius looked conflicted, "If we're both having dreams, does that mean…that there's more than one?" He'd had the revelation earlier, but hadn't wanted to bring it up, it would only worry present company more.

Loren winced again, "Oh Godric, I don't know…" She shook her head, "I'd say we should test it, but after that one attacked Katie—" She shook her head.

"How long do you think we'll live if we avoid sleeping all together?" Sirius asked hopelessly, looking up and spotting two figures making their way down the corridor. "Hullo Kings," He nodded to the minister, not bothering to be formal.

"Oh good, you're both here," Kingsley Shacklebolt nodded a greeting to them, "Sirius, good to see you again," He offered a hand to his friend, maintaining an air of professionalism that Sirius seemed to forgo. "And you must be Mrs. LaCroix," Kingsley turned to Loren offering her a hand. "I'm Kingsley Shacklebolt."

Despite the situation, Loren felt her face heating up, "Mister Minister, Sir," The usually confident girl fumbled over her words, Kate's words, and adequate description of the Minister of Magic coming to mind. "It's such a…I mean…please call me Loren, and it's a pleasure to meet you sir."

Sirius snorted, "Having trouble with your words there Lo?" He raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"Shut up Sirius," Loren ducked her head, blushing nervously.

Kingsley looked surprised, "Do you two know each other?" He looked between them cautiously.

"It's a long story, Sirius looked questionably at the man standing next to Kingsley, and then pointedly at the Minister.

"Oh yes, this is Les Drew, Director of the Department of Mysteries, Les, you know Loren of course," Kingsley nodded to the blushing girl again. "And this is Sirius Black, we were Aurors together for a time during the first war."

Loren glanced to Sirius, "You were an Auror?"

"Until I was wrongfully convicted of murder, sure," He shrugged, still acting unfazed by the entirety of the situation. Loren was starting to gather that it was his nature. "Lost a bit of respect for the department when my friends came round to arrest me and convict me without a trail though."

Kingsley sighed, "If no one has apologized formally Sirius, I'd like to extend my deepest regrets to you now," He told Sirius with a discrete eye roll.

Sirius grinned. "See? Was that so hard? Think you can do that again, in front of Rita Skeeter?"

Kingsley shook his head, though Sirius would later swear that he saw a hint of amusement in the man's eyes. Contrarily, Les Drew was scowling at him.

"Now, if we could possibly take this to your office Les," Kingsley had his professional mask back on, "We can get down to business, and maybe discuss just _how _the two of you know each other."

* * *

It was a rather chilling thing to return to the place where you had once died. Truth be told, Sirius didn't remember much about that night, other than an urgent message telling them that Harry and his friend were in trouble, and to get to the department of mysteries as quickly as possible. He remembered dueling with his cousin, getting pushed backwards through the veil, and Harry screaming.

He remembered even less about the day that he'd emerged, somehow trapped as padfoot, he'd wandered out, half-delirious and desperate to turn back into a human. It had been night when he'd managed to make his way to the street (although he hardly remembered getting there- or how he'd opened the doors), and he'd been thinking about Harry.

Now, standing in the room with the Veil of Death, a feeling of unease swept over him. The chamber was as he remembered, cold, and downright creepy, and he wanted more than anything to leave.

Loren and Sirius had explained nearly everything to Kingsley and Les. They left out a few major details of course, the largest being Sirius's anamagus form (he was still unregistered and really didn't care to be arrested for such a crime), and Les suggested that they venture into the room with the Veil, to "see if anything happens." Sirius was beginning to dislike the man.

"I don't like this," Loren seemed as uncomfortable with the idea as Sirius, and they'd barely stepped foot in the room. "I don't know if I can do this." She shook her head, backing away from the room.

Kingsley looked pensive for a moment, and then nodded, "Perhaps this is a bad idea," He said finally, stepping out of the room himself, Sirius let out a relieved breath before following him. "We of course, don't want to do anything to make our guests uncomfortable," He shot a pointed look to Les Drew. "Though a little more research might be prudent before continuing onto experimentation." His gaze shifted to Sirius and he lowered his voice, "And…I think we better call an Order meeting."


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **All canon characters, scenery and plot references are the property of J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from this story in any way.

**Rating**: T for language

**Summary: ** If you don't know what this story is about by now—I'm not entirely sure why you're still reading it, or these. It's basically the princess and the frog. Except for less kissing….and no frogs, or princesses. But there is an animal! Or I suppose there was….Yup…. The analogy stops there! Better luck next time!

**Author's Note: **My life has been pretty dramatic lately, but I won't make excuses, because I've had ample opportunity to write, I just sort of hit a wall with this story, which I am trying desperately to scale. When I had originally planned this out, it was going to be about 5 chapters of Sirius and Kate, a lot less story and a lot more fluff. And then Loren invented herself, and Hermione got involved, and now suddenly, the story has spun mildly out of control. I promise it hasn't been abandoned, I just haven't worked out the plot to its full potential yet, so there are some things that are subject to change I suppose.

Thanks so much for your patience! You readers and Reviewers are awesome.

* * *

_I keep running around  
Trying to find the ground  
But my head is the stars  
And me feet are in the sky  
_**King of the world**—First Aid Kit

* * *

When Kate and Loren followed Sirius through the fireplace to the secret-kept number 12 Grimmauld Place, they hadn't been sure quite what to expect, but it certainly hadn't been _this._

They entered a dimly lit study of a room, filled with dark furniture, leather couches, bookshelves and about two-dozen people. There were a few familiar faces, Kingsley, Tonks, Hermione. There was the tell-tale red headed sign of the Weasley family (which Kate was fairly certain made up half the room). There were a couple of Hogwarts Professors, and the sandy-haired man that Kate had met in the park who had told her that her dog was actually Sirius Black.

Kate, at least, had this advantage over Loren, who knew no one but Sirius, Hermione, Kate and Kingsley. Kate shot her grandmother a reassuring smile. The witch returned it with a thin one of her own.

Sirius's entrance had caught the attention of almost everyone in the room, Kate realized; and so had they. She guessed that this was not a room who was used to strangers in their midst. Judging by what little Sirius had told them, a secret organization that had discretely fought against Voldemort during both wars, she wouldn't trust outsiders either.

Still, being one of said outsiders, it was a little uncomfortable being under so much scrutiny. She was incredibly thankful that Hermione chose that moment to approach, and pulled both her and Loren into tight hugs, loudly proclaiming that she was 'glad that they'd made it.' It was a calculated move, sure, and Kate made a note to tease Hermione about her own Slytherin tendencies later, but she was grateful all the same.

Loren immediately launched into a discussion of something she'd read earlier about interdimensional parallelisms, which had Sirius and Kate exchanging a grin and an eye roll. And then, before she could even blink, Kate was nearly knocked over by blue haired Nymphadora Tonks, who had barreled into her side. "Katie!"

"Tonks!" Kate laughed, once she'd caught herself, turning to hug the girl tightly. She'd worked with the metamorphmagus in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as well, and the two girls had always gotten along, especially after they shared some extra-curricular activities during the second war which involved an underground movement that protected muggleborns when the Ministry went insane and ordered them to register.

They straightened up, laughing, and Kate caught sight of Sirius exchanging an amused glance with the sandy-haired man that had followed Tonks over. "How the hell have you been?" She asked.

"Good, good!" Kate was grinning, "It's been a while."

"Too long," Tonks looked her over, "You looked good."

"How the hell do you know my cousin?" Sirius, who was openly enjoying being the center of attention, laughed, slinging a casual arm over Kate's shoulder.

"You're cousins?" Kate asked incredulously, looking between Sirius and Tonks with a shake of her head.

"Funny, I was about to ask the same question," Tonks looked a little hesitant, aware the half the room was paying apt attention to their conversation. Her eyes settled on the sandy-haired man at her elbow. "Oh! Have you met my husband?"

"Yes actually," Kate grinned, shaking her head at how small the British Wizarding World seemed some times. "Well sort of," She offered the man a hand, "I'm Kate Lawrence."

"Remus Lupin," The man grinned, taking her hand and shaking it firmly, "Sorry about…" He waved a hand absently in the air, "Last time."

Kate laughed, "You mean when you told me that my dog was actually….this guy?" She shrugged Sirius's arm off her shoulder and sent him a pointed glance. Sirius grinned in response.

"Merlin, that was you?" Tonks covered her mouth to hide a giggle, "You're joking!"

"I'd say I was serious," Kate dead-panned, "But something tells me that he'd take full advantage of it."

"Ah, kitten," Sirius slung his arm back over her shoulders, "You know me so well."

* * *

When they finally all settled in, the group barely fit in the sitting room. They had brought in chairs from the kitchen, and study, and still, half of group was sitting on the floor. Hermione, Kate, Loren, Sirius and Kingsley all gathered together near the front of the room, and though Kate and Loren were tense, Sirius looked completely at ease. Hermione looked calm as well, though she kept alternating from scowling at Sirius, to her boyfriend, who had hardly left her alone since she'd confessed to knowing the strangers.

Kingsley called the meeting to order, introduced Kate and Loren, and then turned the floor over to them, to explain their story. Sirius shot Kate a reassuring smile before launching into the tale, unfolding everything to the group. Kate had to admit, that hearing it like this, it sounded fairly insane.

He listed in detail everything (with some help from the girls), from Kate's hasty adoption of Ozzie 'the grim,' to meeting Remus Lupin in the park. Loren detailed what happened when she stepped out of the veil, and began working with the ministry to discover why, to tracking down her children and grandchildren, which, other than an estranged daughter, resulted in her meeting Kate. Hermione talked about the research they'd been doing, and how wholly unhelpful the Ministry had been.

"There's a surprise," one of the red headed boys scoffed from the other side of the room. He was quickly silenced by a glare from Hermione.

Most importantly, they talked about the black, ghost-like figures that had haunted Loren and Sirius's dreams since leaving the veil. And how they were real. How Kate had been attacked in the kitchen, and how neither Sirius nor Loren had slept since.

Help, or at least, information came from a rather unlikely source. One of the redheads stood quickly. He was handsome, and Kate recognized him as a grown-up version of the boy that had been two years under her in Gryffindor. Scars now covered much of his face, and he wore a leather jacket and a dragon tooth earring, and a frown.

He introduced himself as Bill Weasley, explained that he was a curse breaker for the ministry of magic, and that he'd spent a fair bit of time in Egypt, where, there had apparently been a similar legend of the father of time.

"Egypt has its own version of the veil of death," He said in a serious tone. "They call it the pit, or the gate to the afterlife." He scrunched up his nose. "It's quite literally a hole in the ground, which seemingly has no bottom, in the annex of an unremarkable pyramid. And it's creepy as hell." He added, ignoring the reapproving glare a plump red headed woman shot him.

"Anyway, one of the most common curses and protections placed on tombs with Pharaohs or Royalty is one that causes death," Bill continued, "A final irony of dying in the tomb that you were looting, but these curses have been around for centuries. Some of them were meant to kill instantaneously, and rarer, though still quite effective is a curse whose hieroglyphs translate roughly as 'marked for death.'"

"This curse sounds a hell of a lot like what seems to be going on with the two of you," He explained with a scowl, glancing to Sirius and Loren. "Black specters, dreams, all of that leading to the cursed ended up in the pit; in an attempt to equal out the balance of death."

"So…" Loren said slowly, "You think that we're cursed?"

"A member of a team that worked closely with mine fell under this curse," Bill answered, "And the symptoms are similar enough for this to actually be a good thing." He nodded curtly to Loren.

"How?" Hermione asked.

"There's an amulet that should hypothetically shield you from the specters. The Ancient Egyptians invented it, and it took us curse-breakers an embarrassingly long time to recreate. I'm not saying it's a permanent solution, but it should be able to buy us some time until we can find one."

Kingsley cleared his throat, "And how long will it take for you to track down a set?"

"A few days at the most," Bill twisted his wand between his fingers, "I'll have to reach out to some of my old contacts in Egypt."

"Do," Kingsley said authoritatively, "Use whatever resources necessary." He turned back to the rest of the group, "We're going to need some pepper-up potions and a hell of a lot of coffee to try and keep Sirius and Loren up for as long as possible." He said, "When they _do_ need to sleep, we'll rotate shifts guards on the doors, but no one in or out. Loren and Hermione will keep researching, and we'll go from there." He let out a deep breath. "Agreed?"

No one argued.

* * *

It was no surprise that the atmosphere in the room had changed dramatically. Before the meeting, it had been cheerful and lighthearted, with easy conversation, just old friends laughing and talking, cheerfully catching up without care.

Now, there was danger, a mission, and it was reflected quite obviously with low murmurs, whispers and an undeniable tension that seemed to fill the room. Everyone seemed effected by the change. That was, everyone except for Sirius.

The man seemed to be making a point that he wasn't going to be affected by this curse-or whatever it was that was affecting them. He was purposefully being overly boisterous, laughing and joking with a set of redheaded twins who wore matching grins.

But Kate knew better. And, she knew just how terrified that Sirius must be; she could see it in his eyes. And when, they somehow managed to get a minute alone together (miraculously), she quite literally saw him deflate.

Most of the order, save the nights guard, had dispersed, and Kate followed Sirius to the hallway behind the kitchen, where he sunk down to sit against one of the walls, taking a minute from himself, away from the chaos of everything else. He let out a breath, shoulders sagging, and smile fading instantly. Kate would have appreciated the fact that he felt comfortable enough to show how he was really feeling to her, if she wasn't so worried about him.

"Are you alright?" She asked softly. All in all, it was probably a fairly stupid question, but he smiled wryly at her and patted the hardwood floor next to him. She slid down the wall to sit next to him and took one of his hands in hers, lacing their fingers together.

"I'm tired," He admitted, giving her hand a gentle squeeze, and shooting another week smile in her direction as her meticulously studied her face. "I don't want you anywhere near me tonight Kitten," He told her firmly.

"Huh," She said, keeping her tone light. "And here I thought that you were _trying _to get me into your bed," She teased. "Don't you like me anymore?"

Sirius gave a low chuckle, "I think the problem is that I like you too much love," He brought her hand to his lips and lightly kissed her knuckles. "Which will be a whole new can of worms, about commitment issues, troubled childhoods and a whole lot of other shit." He added gruffly, "A conversation, I'd quite honestly love to have, just as soon as we're safe."

"We'll have it," She assured him, "I mean—look at all of the people we've got fighting for us—how can we _not _come through this enough to have awkward conversations about relationships," She shot him a grin.

He chuckled again, "Looking forward to it," His eyes searched hers for something. Whatever it was, he seemed to find some sort of confirmation, and he slowly brought his free hand up to cup the back of her neck. And then, his lips crashed down on hers.

For being such a demanding motion, it was a surprisingly tender kiss. Somehow, it was everything that they had been robbed of, all of their fears and worries, channeled into this one motion. It all came down to this one moment, alone in the hallway together. The world seemed to shrink, and nothing else mattered but this moment, this kiss.

It was just Sirius, weaving his hand into her hair, their other hands still linked and heavy on her thigh. It was just the gentle caress of their lips moving together, and a fluttering in her chest as she pulled him closer. And then, after what felt like no time at all, but was actually probably several minutes, they broke apart, both breathing heavily.

Sirius took a deep breath, touched his forehead to hers, and then broke out into a grin. "I changed my mind love," He told her. "You can come to my room tonight if you want." He wagged his eyebrows at her.

Kate pulled away and smacked his arm, but was grinning too. "Git."

"Ah, but you like me, despite that," He beamed, some of his youthful exuberance returning.

"I'm still not sure why," Kate shook her head, leaning back against the wall.

"It's the charm and good looks," Sirius assured her confidently.

"And modesty, obviously," she shot back.

"Obviously," Sirius stood, and offered his hand to hers to pull her to her feet. "Come on, it's only a matter of time before someone comes looking for us, and it's been much too quiet to not be suspicious."

* * *

Kate ignored the knowing smirk on Loren's face as she said goodnight to the group near the fireplace in the study. Sirius had convinced her to go home and get some sleep (after a verbal sparring, and another heated kiss). After all, she _did_ have to work the next day, despite the fact that she planned on informing her boss that she was taking some of her accrued vacation time, first thing when she got in.

She continued to ignore Loren and Hermione, who poorly hid grins when Sirius kissed her on the forehead when bidding her an official goodnight. Though, it was hard to ignore Loren when she hugged her goodnight, and whispered, "You and I are going to have a _long_ conversation tomorrow, dear granddaughter," loud enough for Sirius to hear.

Despite all of this, Kate was still in a great mood when she flooed to the fireplace of her farmhouse. She got ready for bed with a smile on her face, floating from the bathroom to her bedroom and trying _not _to think about Sirius, and about their kiss. Merlin, she felt like she was 12 years old again. Things were too serious for her to be behaving like a love stuck teenager! But tonight, Sirius and Loren were safe. They were in good company at Grimmauld place, and they wouldn't be sleeping tonight. They wouldn't have any dreams or the specters, and tomorrow was another day.

There was no way that she could have known that the ghosts would haunt her dreams instead.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **All canon characters, scenery and plot references are the property of J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from this story in any way.

**Rating**: T for language

**Summary: ** There are some characters that do some things, and interact with other characters, and there's some plot thrown in there. There's also some ghosts. Because ghosts tend to make everything a little more interesting.

**Author's Note: **It snowed where I live today. April 22nd! Goodness gracious, I need to move somewhere warmer. Snow. At the end of April. I might cry. Anyway, Happy Earth day! I hope you all planted trees and turn off your technology and loved the world!

This chapter has a rather silly children's story near the end, you've been warned. :) Thanks for reading!

* * *

_I spilled the ink across the land,  
Trying to spell your name.  
Up and down, there it goes,  
Paper Aeroplane  
_**Paper Aeroplane**—Angus and Julia Stone

* * *

**Twelve**

Until a few months ago, Kate would have told you that she was okay with her life. She was okay with the fact that she had never known her father. She was okay with the fact that her mother had never _quite_ accepted her for the witch that she was. She was okay at Hogwarts, okay with her schooling and her grades and her books. She was okay with the fact that she had gotten married young. She was okay with the fact that she had gotten _divorced_ young.

She had been okay, but she hadn't been thriving.

It wasn't until Sirius Black had come into her life (even in the form of Ozzie), that she realized just what _thriving _meant.

She'd married Thom, not because it had been what she wanted, (she was never _sure_ of what she'd wanted), but because it was the right thing to do at the time. She had gone into law because it was what her _mother _had wanted (and she had been so desperate for her mother's approval). And, until fairly recently, she'd never put much stock into doing the things she wanted for herself. She'd never been a push over, never overly cared about what other people thought, but she would have given anything to make the people that she loved happy.

Thom cheating on her had been the straw that broke the camel's back. There had been a large part of her, even then, that had wanted to forgive him for his misgivings, to take him back after he'd cheated on her. She might have, if she had been _happy _in their marriage. She wasn't happy, she'd been complacent. Leaving her marriage had been an escape.

The first time that she could remember _wanting _something for her own selfish reasons, was standing on the cement floor of the animal shelter, looking Ozzie in the eyes. She wanted him. He was hers. Maybe magic had somehow brought them together, maybe it was just a happy coincidence that she'd adopt the one animagus in the pound, maybe a hundred things, but it had happened, and everything had changed.

If she hadn't walked into that pound and seen Ozzie, she wouldn't be here, she might have turned Loren away at the door, but she would never have met the members of the Order of the Phoenix, and despite it all, despite any bad dreams, ghosts, or certain demise, she wouldn't, couldn't go back, even if she had the choice.

She supposed danger was just the consequence for being free.

* * *

_She was standing at the edge of a cliff. _

_It was something out of a muggle film, a field of green, filled with wildflowers and tall green grasses, abruptly ended with a jutting set of rocks that overlooked the blue of the ocean beyond. And, as in any self-respecting cliff-side dream, she was standing at the edge. _

_Kate had never been afraid of heights. True, she wasn't the best flier in the world, but heights had never bothered her. She used the climb the trees in her backyard growing up. Tall maples, oaks and elms; sticky pines, beech and apple trees: Anything that she could find, she'd climb. It drove her mother crazy, worrying that she might fall. _

_She had once. _

_Her second burst of accidental magic had saved her life. _

_Kate never been afraid of heights since, but now, standing at the edge of this cliff, the wind began to pick up. A howling rushed around her, filling her ears, pushing at her clothes with a torrential force, and she turned sideways in hopes of making herself as small of a target as possible, to cut through the wind. _

_She'd later wish that she hadn't. _

_Across the field, spinning towards her with inhumanly quick speeds was a black figure, blurred, and moving too quickly to spot. It was coming right for her. _

_She screamed, reaching for her wand. But it was a dream, and in her dream, her wand was nowhere to be found. _

_The blur hit her with an unexpected force, and she tumbled backwards, arms flailing in an attempt to grasp on to something, anything. They came up empty. She fell. _

_Down and down and down, rocks racing towards her at breakneck speeds- or was she racing towards them? If you died in your dream, did you die in the real world too? _

_She was certain to find out. _

She jerked upright, her breath coming in gasps. She'd dreamed about the specters! What did it mean?! With fumbling hands, she reached for her wand, grasping it from her bedside table. Her throat was still sore from screaming, but that had been in her dream, hadn't it?

"_Lumos,"_ She breathed. And then she screamed again. The figure, the one from her dream, was there in her room, at the foot of her bed, but in seconds, it was gone, and Kate was left unsure if she'd imagined it.

With a sob she hauled herself to her feet, taking shaky breaths, and rushing out of her room, her wand held high ahead of her. She made it to the fireplace in record time, spilling floo powder all over her floor as she grasped a handful and forced it into the fireplace.

Number 12 Grimmauld place was dark. It was as dark as the house that she had just left, but somehow, it felt safer, warmer, just knowing that there were other people here. She took a minute to compose herself, clutching onto the brick of the fireplace next to her, and taking deep breaths. But a shiver running down her spine proved to her that it was useless.

There was noise coming from the kitchen, voices. Under any normal circumstances, Kate would have stopped to ascertain who exactly was there, but she didn't, rushing in instead. All that mattered was that Sirius was there. And he barely had time to utter her name, surprised, as she flung herself into his arms.

* * *

Other than being teased by his Godson, best friend, and love interest's grandmother, the night hadn't been too bad.

The order meeting had gone better than expected, and his talk with Kate afterwards….well… that had gone _much _better than expected. He could handle a little teasing. He'd have ample opportunity to return the favor.

Harry, Remus and Hermione had opted to stay up with them. Loren had protested that it was unnecessary for some many people to stay up, but appreciated the company. Sirius had decided that they could turn it into a party.

Instead, they all clustered around the table in the kitchen, eating leftovers from Molly's peach cobbler straight from the pan, drinking unhealthy amounts of coffee and pepper-up potions and, and talking. Despite the amount of coffee and potion in his system, it was hard not to feel exhausted.

But that all changed in an instant.

They'd exhausted most of the easy topics of conversation, the 'how are yous' and 'what do you do for a livings,' and the recent Quidditch scores. Now, at last, they were moving on to the interesting things.

Harry and Hermione were talking about Harry's upcoming nuptials to Ginny, and Hermione was refuting the idea that Ron was likely to propose anytime soon, (we're focusing on our career's thanks very much). Remus was explaining the headway that he and Hermione had been making on Werewolf rights to Loren, who, other than looking surprised when she'd found out that Remus was one, hardly blinked. ("You're good people!" Sirius had exclaimed). He was listening to both conversations with half an ear, and in the meantime, letting his mind wander to Kate.

It was no secret that he'd had a messed up childhood. He'd considered the Potters to be his family much more readily than the Blacks. It had affected everything in his life, including any and all relationships that he'd ever been in. And then there had been James and Lily.

From the day that Lily had smacked James in the face for some distasteful comment that he'd made on the Hogwarts train one year, James was sold. He was convinced that she was going to be the girl that he was going to marry someday, and, he had. What was more, was that once she'd come around, she'd loved him just as fervently as James had always seemed to love her.

Relationships like that didn't come around every day. Hardly ever, in Sirius's experience. And so, he had stupidly held every relationship that he'd ever been in up to the standards of Lily and James, and they had failed, nearly every time.

Until Kate.

Okay, so maybe they hadn't had the perfect start. Maybe he _had _already seen her naked as Ozzie (there was nothing to complain about there), but he could see Kate not only living up to the Lily-James standard, but matching, maybe even surpassing it. And it terrified him.

But then, as if on cue, the girl stumbled into the room. She was wearing a long t-shirt, and, nothing else, but Sirius didn't have time to look at the well-defined muscles of her legs, because he was too distracted by the look on her face. Terror.

"Kate?" He'd been unable to mask the surprise evident in his voice. She had left only a few hours ago.

And then she flung herself into his arms, and he looked over her head at his friends wide eyed.

It was at that moment that he knew, as much as a relationship with the girl in his arms terrified him. Losing her scared him even more.

* * *

It was some time, and several cups of tea before Kate had calmed down enough to tell the others what had happened. She hadn't left Sirius's arms, instead clinging to him as if he was her very life's blood, though, in truth, he didn't mind in the slightest.

The news however, he did mind.

"What does that mean?" He said after letting out an impressive string of curses that would have made Molly Weasley quite cross with him. He tightened his grip on Kate's waist. "She's cursed too? That the curse was transferred from Loren to her when she was attacked in the kitchen?" Despite the fact that he was merely thinking out loud, he was watching Hermione.

"I don't know," She shook her head grimly.

A flash of anger jerked through Sirius. Anger at the situation, at the not knowing, at the putting Kate in danger, and he, regrettably took it out on Hermione. "Well what the hell _do _you know?" He snapped, tone biting.

"Padfoot," Remus warned, flexing his hands on the table.

"It's not like there some book on this Sirius," Hermione snapped back, "I can't just head over to the shop and pick up 'what to do when you're being haunted by time itself.'"

"You trick it," Kate said hazily from Sirius's arms. She'd hardly spoken other than to shakily explain to them what had happened.

"What was that love?" Sirius asked, carefully brushing hair from the girls face.

"It's like the tale of the time-traveling snail, isn't it?" She said her voice hoarse and soft.

"The _what?_" Harry blinked, looking the girl over as if she was insane. Protective anger flashed through Sirius again.

"It's a children's book," He said, as calmly as possible, though, if the pointed look from Remus was any indication, it hadn't exactly been polite either. "Hermione?" He asked, turning to the girl.

She was looking pensive, but jumped up at her name. "I haven't read it, but I think it's in my copy of books that…" She trailed off, jumping to her feet. "Hang on." She rushed from the room. When she returned, she had a thick leather bound book in her hands. "Here," She plopped down clumsily on her chair, already flipping through the pages, and stopping suddenly. "This is it," She said, before quickly reading aloud:

"_Here is the tale, of a marvelous snail,  
Who dared to travel through time.  
A wondrous story, filled with untold glory,  
Told to you solely in rhyme._

_Dale the snail, lived in a vale,  
Made of valley and trees.  
And then a great storm, threatened his home,  
And dear Dale was thus forced to flee. _

_So far from home, he wandered alone,  
He came upon a traveler black.  
A ghost of a man, with a malicious plan,  
Told Dale the Snail to turn back._

_His aim was to curse, to hurt and much worse,  
Every passing magical beast.  
To rob and to steal, his objective was evil,  
And dear Dale was afraid of the worst. _

_But our dear friend Dale, was a very savvy snail,  
And he tricked the traveler in black.  
He was quite a quick learner, and used a time-turner,  
And spun the clock back and then back. _

_He thwarted the plan, of the darkly clad man,  
By stealthily lying in wait.  
He set a great trap, for the dark man in black,  
And the man in black fell for the bait. _

_With his evil plan thwarted, he hastily aborted,  
The snail had scared him away.  
And proved that a snail, who'd came from the vale,  
Would not let evil make way._

_His bravery sung, now our story is done_  
_He came and he conquered and saw,_  
_And proved that the snail, who came from the vale,_  
_Would not be the one to withdraw._

_Reader's take note, heed what we wrote,_  
_Never judge based on a size._  
_For even a snail, can show to prevail,_  
_And prove to be clever and wise."_

Hermione let out a breath, sipping her coffee and lifting her head, eyes on Kate.

"So what are you saying love?" Sirius turned to Kate too, his brow furrowed, "That we set a trap for the specters?"

"I'm saying that its worth a shot," Kate nodded, straightening slightly in Sirius's arms, and feeling much calmer than she had only minutes before. "If the specters are tied to time, well, the department of mysteries has ways around time, doesn't it?" She glanced to Kate for confirmation. The girl bit her lip, but nodded.

"So… what if we use a time turner to be there when the specters leave the veil? Set a trap for them; find a way to fight them?" She twisted the ring on her left thumb, again and again, focusing on the movement to keep herself calm. "If they're somehow related to Dementors, with their ties to death and all….maybe a patronus would work?"

"It's a bit of a risky plan, isn't it?" Remus asked through a frown.

"Yeah…but we're Gryffindor's aren't we?" Kate shot him a weak smile. "We know so little about these things that are after us, and aren't Loren and Hermione pushing for more research?"

* * *

**A/N: **Have you ever tried to write a rhyming fictional narrative about a time-traveling snail? It's not easy—but its surprisingly fun.

When I asked one of my best friends vaguely what it should be about, he responded, "He probably feels obligated to kill Hitler or something."

PS. Harry Potter- proof that the solution to all of your problems can be found in children's books?


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: **All canon characters, scenery and plot references are the property of J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from this story in any way.

**Rating**: T for language

**Summary: ** There was a rhyming children's narrative in the last chapter. I'm not quite sure I'll be able to top that in any story for the rest of my life.

**Author's Note: ** I am having a lot of trouble with this story lately. Don't get me wrong, I love it, and the general concept behind it. I have become attached to the characters, and the plotline, but I don't want to cheat you (my fabulous fabulous readers and reviewers) out of a decent story arc just to keep posting chapters. I'd hope you'd prefer a well written story than a rushed and disjointed one.

That being said, I'm still going to try to update it as much as possible, but in the meantime, I've uploaded a new random story about the twin sister of Draco Malfoy, and, because I'm apparently a glutton for punishment and having THREE unfinished stories up, I'm going to publish one about Bill Weasley and an OC later today. Yes. I am probably insane, thanks for noticing. Anyway, to cut my long-winded ramblings off. Thank you for being patient and you are all fantastic.

* * *

_If your trails at hand, are really getting you down  
We had a close call, I didn't even see it, then another one.  
I hardly believe it at all..  
_**The General Specific –**Band of Horses

* * *

**Thirteen**

Unspeakable Luis Oswin was getting married on Saturday. He wasn't certain weather to be excited, terrified, or some combination of the two.

Mary had every miniscule detail of the wedding planned out; details he hadn't known existed until he'd been brought into the loop about them. They were things that he cared little about, and, more importantly, had no desire to retain. Who cared if the inscription on the place cards were in lilac instead of periwinkle? Who cared if the stringed band that would march his muggle-born fiancée down the hall had a violin and two violas, or a cello? Who cared what the symbolism of the red and white roses that made up the centerpieces? Who cared about any of this!? Well, Mary certainly did.

His mates told him that it was what the birds did. Spend needless amount of money and time and detail on something that was essentially a glorified party just so they could proclaim to the world that they were married. He was almost thankful when he was called into work during a particularly intense last-minute planning session with Mary and his future mother-in-law. Almost.

Something had been going on in the Department of Mysteries. Of that, he was certain. There was a strange nervous energy in the air when he went to work every day, a near resonation of the atmosphere in the veil room, now everywhere. It was affecting the moods and patience of his co-workers, and he was starting to dread going into work.

That was not to mention that his mate Benjy had _sworn_ that he'd seen the Minister of Magic in Director Drew's office last week. Benjy wasn't known for lying or telling tall tales, and so, Luis believed him, even though few did. It seemed to be a stretch, he admitted, but with all the strange things going on around here, he'd want to know too, were _he _the Minister of Magic.

It was a good thing that Luis wasn't the Minister of Magic.

Still, he wasn't sure what to think when Director Drew requested (ordered was more the like) volunteers for night shifts to add increased security and protection in the department.

By the time that he got to Luis's name on the list, the only days available were the following night and Saturday. He had other plans on Saturday night. Mary would kill him if he missed the wedding. And so, he made his way to the department of mysteries.

* * *

Although everyone present wanted nothing more than to rashly burst into the department of mysteries as soon as possible, they'd all agreed that it was a horrible idea to attempt it that night. They needed rest, proper food, and more importantly, they needed some idea of what they were doing. So they planned it for the next night, barring any unforeseen circumstances or interruptions.

Sirius sent Hermione, Remus and Harry off to get some sleep, and though he was met with quite a bit of protest, they'd eventually reluctantly agreed.

Sirius and Loren looked exhausted, and Kate, who considered how they were functioning on so little sleep, suggested that they take shifts staying up while one of them slept. After all, they were all targets, weren't they? They were going to try and set a trap for the specter's the next day at the department of mysteries, wouldn't tonight just be expediting the process a little?

Sirius, with a devious grin, liked this idea, and suggested that Loren should take the first sleeping shift.

"Alright," Loren had replied, "But you two better do some research and not just…snog!"

"He's going to teach me how to do a patronus," Kate had defended, a blush gracing her cheeks. She'd had no intention of keeping…whatever was going on between Sirius and herself a secret, and she had gathered that Loren had suspected something, but she hadn't expected the woman to have called her out on it quite so quickly.

"Is _that_ what the kids are calling it these days?" Loren asked, a grin on her face. She waggled her eyebrows at them, before retreating down the hallway to find a place to sleep in the gigantic old house.

Kate and Sirius exchanged a look, before Sirius broke the tension. "She's _your_ grandmum."

* * *

They did work for quite some time on casting a Patronus charm. Sirius walked her through the process, helped her with memories, but Kate had no luck. She'd managed to produce silver mist, but other than that, nothing.

Sirius claimed that he should have Remus give her some pointers, because he was a much better teacher. They quit for the evening, opting to practice it more tomorrow, and then, they snogged. There was a part of Kate that felt like a teenager, sneaking around with her boyfriend, while everyone else in the house was asleep. But, the second that Sirius pushed a hand up into her hair and drew her tighter into his arm, all rational thought went out the window.

Time passed strangely, too quickly, and they talked, and snogged well into the morning. They didn't mean to fall asleep, but somehow they'd found themselves talking on the a thick rug on the floor of the study, cuddled together under a blanket from the sofa.

When Kate woke up, it took her a minute to figure out where she was. It was still dark out, and the sky was just turning light. Last night had felt surreal. From falling asleep alone at the farmhouse, to rushing to Grimmauld place mid –evening, to staying awake with Sirius, talking and kissing and just…being together in a way that was a little strange to Kate. When she had been married to Thom, they seemed to live their lives independent of each other, only coming together for nights and weekends, and odd dates. It was as if they had been living their lives next to each other, instead of together, and somehow, even though they'd only spent a small amount of time together as humans, Sirius was different.

Maybe it was because she knew him better than she thought. Maybe it was because, he _did _in fact share several traits with him anamagus form. Maybe all that time spent with Ozzie the dog had just been a jump start on her relationship with Sirius the man, though, thinking about the ramifications of that was still a bit strange. She could imagine Clara asking her how they met, and somehow saying: "Oh yes, he was my dog," Probably wouldn't go over very well.

She should floo Clara soon, maybe tomorrow, and try to work things out with the girl. She _did _miss her best friend, and she needed the girls usually optimistic opinion. With a yawn, she considered snuggling back closer into Sirius and going back to sleep, but she was struck with the sudden realization that the specters hadn't attacked last night! She hadn't had a single dream about them, and had slept restfully and honestly…better than she had in days. Sirius seemed peaceful too, so she decided to slip from his arms to go an check on Loren. Hopefully the specters had left her alone too.

She only made it half way down the hall when she ran into one. It was dark and floating and facing away from her, weirdly transparent against the window at the end of the hall. "Shit." Kate muttered, frozen. If she shouted for help, it would only draw the attention of the creature, if she didn't, chances were she would attract the attention of the creature anyway the second that she moved. But _what was it doing?_

She'd never gotten a chance to look at one of the creatures close up, they'd always been a blur of motion and movement in the past. And now, she found herself strangely fascinated by the creature.

It was tall, maybe standing about seven feet all stretched out, but was currently hunched over on itself. Despite being opaque, it was wearing a thick black robe which shadowed it's face. Though, she could see its hands. Long, spindly white fingers peeked from the edge of long sleeves, bony and terrifying. It was enough to cause Kate to shiver.

And then, as if sensing her, the creature turned and looked up. Kate stood transfixed, staring at the creature, and repressing another shiver. But it felt like she had fallen into a dream, a daze, and she stood rooted to the spot. She could see a peek of the pale white of its face, and icy blue eyes from beneath the dark mask of the hood, she could feel the chill piercing the air around her. Maybe the creature _was _related to a dementors after all. That would mean….

She lifted her wand in nimble fingers, hand shaking violently, as she pointed it down the hallway directly at the creature. "Expecto Patronum." She said, but nothing happened. _A happy memory, _She _needed _a happy memory. "Expecto Patronum!" She tried again, but there was nothing, not even the pale silvery mist that had accompanied her earlier attempts. She felt sick.

The creature gave a hiss and then began moving down the hallway towards her a slow pace, inch by inch making its way closer to her. She wracked through her memories, trying to find a happy one. Finding out that she was a witch, her wedding to Thom, Loren showing up at her door. "Expect Patronum!" Nothing.

The wraith was getting closer, and closer and closer, and she stumbled backwards, into the wall behind her. It was going to get her; she was going to die without telling Sirius how she felt about him. Without anyone in the house knowing what had happened to her, without knowing what these specters really were or what was going on with the veil of death.

She was going to die without making things up with Clara, without having lived a full life; she was too young to die. She had maybe one shot left. One more chance to cast the patronus charm. She raised her wand, "Exp-"

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A voice from behind her roared, and a silvery white dog burst past her, _a grim_, Ozzie. But the result was instantaneous. It drove the creature back, and away, until, it hissed again, and vanished completely. The dog circled back, and stepped right up to Kate, pressing it's ghostly nose into Kate's open hand, before disappearing itself.

"Bloody hell," Sirius was next to her in a manner of seconds. "We know _that _works," He turned to her. "Are you alright?"

* * *

Sirius, as it turned out, was a natural when it came to charms, enchantments, and spell-work of all varieties. She wondered vaguely if his upbringing where spells had been commonplace had made a difference, or if it was simply his confidence and devil-may-care attitude that so drastically impacted his wand work.

Kate had always been decent with a wand, she'd placed third in dueling club for four-years running, but compared to Sirius, who could effortless do wandless and wordless spells without breaking a sweat, she couldn't help but to feel the slightest bit inadequate. It seemed everyone that she had become close to recently were talented, and she woefully paled in comparison. It was a bit of a blow to her ego.

Of everyone involved in the situation, she was the only one that was incapable of casting a patronus; what's more, she'd frozen. _She'd failed._

No one blamed her, and in her defense, she didn't have as much experience in fighting as the others seemed to. She'd managed to avoid the war for the most part, choosing instead to squirrel away and protect muggleborns. Though this had included Clara, there were also half a dozen younger Hogwarts students that had been under her charge, and she had to pretend to be an upstanding, unbiased citizen to keep them safe. They had depended on her.

"It could be that your memory isn't happy enough," Sirius had told her gently, pulling her into his arms immediately after the attack. It was for a minute only her touch alone could re-assure him that she was alright, that she was here, that she was _safe_. Kate meanwhile had been thinking about what would have happened if Sirius hadn't shown up., "It's got to be an amazing one, normal happy memories won't cut it."

Kate had frowned at his words. What memory could she pick, with the mess that her life had been lately? Her wedding had been ruined by her ex-husband, finding Kate and Sirius had been darkened by the specters that were haunting them. In the face of everything, her memories seemed bleak. Was there a memory happy enough when all the ones that she had tried had failed?

"You're trying too hard," Sirius said, kissing the side of her head. "Stop thinking, just focus on feeling."

She tried, _really _tried, but shutting off her mind proved to be impossible. "Maybe some people aren't meant to be capable of such spells," She murmured despondently, taking shallow breaths to calm herself.

"You'll get it kitten," Sirius smiled, "I promise."

She'd nodded numbly, feeling suddenly like crying, like never leaving his arms again, because there, she felt safe, she felt protected. It might be very Gryffindor of her to stand up ahead of the specter, to face it down in the hallway, but that was all for nothing if she couldn't drive it away herself. Sirius wouldn't always be there to save her. She considered telling him all this, of spilling her thoughts and feelings and emotions to the man ahead of her, but instead, she'd pulled away. "We better check on the others."

They strategically made their way through the hallways, knocking on the doors of the rooms that their friends and family had occupied. Kate was struck by just how large the house was. The Black's she knew, were a wealthy family, but did Grimmauld place _really _need so many rooms. Harry, Remus and Hermione had all taken their rooms on the second floor, rooms designated as 'theirs' by long-time occupancy and re-decoration.

None of them had heard the clamor in the halls outside their rooms, and Kate, meanwhile made her way upstairs to the third floor to wake up Loren. She knocked on the closed door at the end of the start of the hall, and peaked her head inside. "Lo?" She asked, spotting the girl's arabesque printed bag lying on the hardwood floor.

The bedsheets were ruffled, proof that Loren had slept there the night before, but now completely empty. Kate frowned, scanning the room. "Loren?" She crossed it quickly, making her way towards the ensuite bathroom. It too, was empty. Feeling panicked, Kate fled the room, searching every room on the floor for some sign of her Grandmother.

But it was of no use. Loren was nowhere to be found.


End file.
